March 2015 Memorial March in Moscow, Russia Honoring Boris Nemtsov
March 1, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photos of a massive crowd marching near the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia--a march held in honor of assassination victim Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of a Boris Nemtsov portrait being held near Moscow's iconic St. Basil's Cathedral, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of a participant in the Moscow mass march holding a picture of Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of marchers, in the vicinity of Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral, holding flags and signs aloft during a march commemorating recently-assassinated Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of the mass march in Moscow held in remembrance of recently-assassinated Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of Moscow marchers commemorating recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of massive crowd of marchers in Moscow, many holding signs and flags aloft, in tribute to Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of participants in the mass march in Moscow that was held as a tribute to the recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: AP photos of participants in the mass march in Moscow that was held as a tribute to the recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: AP photo of the massive crowd marching in tribute to Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; AP photo of flowers placed at the Boris Nemtsov assassination site in Moscow (St. Basil's Cathedral in the background), March 1, 2015
"Tens of thousands of Russians marched through central Moscow on Sunday, carrying banners declaring 'I am not afraid' and chanting 'Russia without Putin' in memory of murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.
Families, the old and young walked slowly, with many holding portraits of the opposition politician and former deputy prime minister who was shot dead while walking home from a nearby restaurant on Friday night.
The authorities have suggested the opposition itself may have been behind his shooting in an attempt to create a martyr and unite the fractured movement.
His supporters have blamed the authorities.
'If we can stop the campaign of hate that's being directed at the opposition, then we have a chance to change Russia. If not, then we face the prospect of mass civil conflict,' Gennady Gudkov, an opposition leader, told Reuters."
"Carrying flowers, portraits and signs that said 'I am not afraid,' thousands of Russians marched Sunday in Moscow to mourn opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose slaying on the streets of the capital has shaken Russia's beleaguered opposition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has marginalized and intimidated his political opponents, jailing some and driving others into exile, since mass anti-Putin protests swept Moscow in 2011 and 2012. Nemtsov, 55, was among the few prominent opposition figures who had refused to be cowed.
The mourners on Sunday marched to the bridge near the Kremlin where Nemtsov was gunned down shortly before midnight Friday. The mood was somber, with a heavy police presence.
Ilya Yashin, a friend and fellow opposition leader, said he hoped the killing would not frighten people.
'Essentially it is an act of terror. It is a political murder aimed at frightening the population, or the part of the population that supported Nemtsov and did not agree with the government,' Yashin told The Associated Press. 'I hope we won't get scared, that we will continue what Boris was doing.'
The march could energize the opposition, but it could also prove to be a brief expression of emotions that dissipates in a climate of fear."
"They carried carnations and roses in even-numbered bouquets, which is how Russians mourn. They held placards praising a fallen hero, and waved the Russian tricolor flag.
Tens of thousands of people from a wide range of political parties and movements turned out in central Moscow on Sunday to honor the opposition leader Boris Y. Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Friday near Red Square. Many of the mourners walked right past the Kremlin walls, holding signs saying 'I am not afraid.'
The crowd was roughly the size of some of the larger rallies held in the Russian capital three years ago during the 'white ribbon' protests, a movement that Mr. Nemtsov helped organize.
Since Vladimir V. Putin returned the presidency in 2012, though, the Russian opposition has fractured and faded, and the country has become absorbed in the conflict in Ukraine that broke out last year."
---New York Times, March 1, 2015
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Arrives in the United States
March 1, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu; Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner
iraqi Military and Shi'ite Militias Launch Offensive Against ISIS-Occupied Areas North of Baghdad
March 2, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Wikipedia map of Iraq; Associated Press map showing ISIS presence in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya, circa early 2015
"Iraq's armed forces, backed by Shi'ite militia, attacked Islamic State strongholds north of Baghdad on Monday at the start of a campaign aimed at driving them out of the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin.
The offensive is the biggest military operation in the province since the Sunni Islamist radicals seized swaths of north Iraq last June and advanced towards the capital Baghdad.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the start of the Salahuddin operations on Sunday during a visit to the government-held city of Samarra, where some of the thousands of troops and Shi'ite militia had gathered for the offensive.
The pace of their progress in Salahuddin could affect plans to recapture Mosul further north. A U.S. official said the assault on Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control, could start as early as April but Iraqi officials have declined to confirm that timetable.
In Salahuddin, Islamic State fighters control several strongholds including Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein and other Tigris river towns.
A source at the local military command said forces advanced north from Samarra towards the town of al-Dour, which officials describe as an Islamic State bastion, and Tikrit, which lies about 40 km (25 miles) north of Samarra."
---Reuters, March 2, 2015
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Addressed AIPAC
March 2, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to AIPAC, March 2, 2015; AP photo of the stage to an AIPAC conference, March 2, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to an AIPAC conference, March 2, 2015
"Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Monday that his plans to address Congress are not aimed at disrespecting President Barack Obama, even as he assailed the U.S. leader's bid for a nuclear deal with Iran as a threat to his country's survival.
'I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them,' Netanyahu said during an address to a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington.
As Netanyahu spoke, Secretary of State John Kerry was opening a new round of talks with Iran in Geneva aimed at reaching a framework nuclear deal ahead of a late March deadline.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington has exposed deep tensions with the White House. The centerpiece of his trip is an address to Congress Tuesday that was arranged by Republicans without the knowledge of the Obama administration.
In a preview of his speech to lawmakers, Netanyahu suggested that Obama did not understand the depth of Israeli concerns about Iran's pursuit of a nuclear bomb."
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Monday that the nuclear deal it is negotiating with Iran could threaten Israel's survival and insisted he had a 'moral obligation' to speak up about deep differences with President Barack Obama on the issue.
In a preview of a planned address to Congress on Tuesday that has already imperiled U.S.-Israeli ties, Netanyahu voiced fears that talks between Iran and world powers would allow Tehran to become a nuclear-armed state and said this must not happen."
---Reuters, March 2, 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Closed at 18,288
March 2, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average Closing at 18,288 on March 2, 2015
U.S. Census Bureau Report on American Population Projections, 2014-2060
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: U.S. Census Bureau graphic showing U.S. minority population projections from 2014 to 2060
Above: William Frey, author of Diversity Explosion, graphic in Newsweek, December 6, 2014
Above: Southern Education Foundation map showing state-by-state percentages of U.S. public school students classified in 2013 as "low income"
"Around the time the 2020 Census is conducted, more than half of the nation’s children are expected to be part of a minority race or ethnic group. This proportion is expected to continue to grow so that by 2060, just 36 percent of all children (people under age 18) will be single-race non-Hispanic white, compared with 52 percent today."
"Rising diversity strongly interacts with generational change. Each succeeding generation has been, and will be, more diverse than the generations that came before it. Back in 1980, the two newest generations in the population, the Baby Boomers and the Gen Xers, were, respectively, 21 percent and 26 percent minority. Looking at the two newest generations today, the Millennials and the Post-Millennials, the corresponding figures are 44 percent and 49 percent minority. Looking ahead to 2040, the Post-Millennial 2 Generation is projected to be 57 percent minority. In 2060, the Post-Millennial 3 Generation should be 64 percent minority."
---Center for American Progress, February 24, 2015
Politico Magazine: Pivotal Time for the United States
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Addressed a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu addressing a joint session of the United States Congress, March 3, 2015
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waving to his Congressional audience, Tuesday, March 3, 2015; AP photo of Prime Minister Netanyahu waving in the House chamber while Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, stand and applaud, Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Above: AP photo of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, listening to Netanyahu's address to Congress, Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2015; AP photo of President Barack Obama speaking to reporters shortly after Netanyahu completed his speech, Tuesday, March 3, 2015
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Tuesday that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a 'nuclear nightmare,' drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.-Israeli rift.
Delivering dueling messages within hours of each other, Netanyahu made his case against Obama's Iran diplomacy in a speech to Congress that aligned himself with the president's Republican foes. Obama responded in the Oval Office, declaring in a frustrated tone that Netanyahu offered 'nothing new.'
In its response, the Iranian government denounced Netanyahu's 39-minute speech as 'boring and repetitive,' the state news agency IRNA said.
In an appearance boycotted by dozens of Obama's fellow Democrats, Netanyahu said Iran's leadership was 'as radical as ever' and could not be trusted and the deal being worked out by the United States and other world powers would not block Iran's way to a bomb 'but paves its way to a bomb.'
'It will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them,' the Israeli leader said. 'We'll face a much more dangerous Iran, a Middle East littered with nuclear bombs and a countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare.'
His speech, a point-by-point critique of Obama's strategy, drew 26 standing ovations in the Republican-controlled chamber."
"In a speech that stirred political controversy in two countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday that negotiations underway between Iran and the United States would 'all but guarantee' that Tehran gets nuclear weapons to the detriment of the entire world.
'And lots of them,' he added in an appearance before a packed House chamber that drew loud applause from Republicans and a more restrained reaction from Democrats.
'Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,' no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. 'The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons.'
Netanyahu spoke in English shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry met for more than two hours in Switzerland with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in hopes of completing an international framework agreement later this month to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The Israeli leader's appeal also came two weeks before tight elections in which he is seeking a new term — and after the invitation to address Congress extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, triggered a political furor in the United States. More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event, a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the two allies.
Many of Netanyahu's comments were greeted by loud applause from U.S. lawmakers, but not everyone was persuaded by his rhetoric."
"Mr. Netanyahu’s speech offered nothing of substance that was new, making it clear that this performance was all about proving his toughness on security issues ahead of the parliamentary election he faces on March 17. He offered no new insight on Iran and no new reasons to reject the agreement being negotiated with Iran by the United States and five other major powers to constrain Iran’s nuclear program.
His demand that Mr. Obama push for a better deal is hollow. He clearly doesn’t want negotiations and failed to suggest any reasonable alternative approach that could halt Iran’s nuclear efforts.
Moreover, he appeared to impose new conditions, insisting that international sanctions not be lifted as long as Iran continues its aggressive behavior, including hostility toward Israel and support for Hezbollah, which has called for Israel’s destruction."
---The Editorial Board of The New York Times, March 3, 2015
Former U.S. Army General and CIA Director David Petraeus to Plead Guilty to Misusing Classified Material
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: General David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his eventual mistress; AP photo of CIA Director Nominee General David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill on June 23, 2011
"David H. Petraeus, the best-known military commander of his generation, has reached a plea deal with the Justice Department and admitted providing his highly classified journals to a mistress when he was the director of the C.I.A.
Mr. Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. He is eligible for up to one year in prison but prosecutors will recommend two years of probation and a $40,000 fine.
The plea deal completes a spectacular fall for Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who was once discussed as a possible candidate for vice president or even president. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the architect of a counterinsurgency strategy that at one time seemed a model for future warfare."
"Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose once-bright political future was all but destroyed over an affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to sharing classified material with her, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The plea agreement — which carries a possible sentence of up to a year in prison — represents a stunning fall for the retired four-star Army general who led American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and was perhaps the most admired military leader of his generation.
Petraeus, 62, agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of material. The case was filed in federal court in Charlotte, the hometown of Paula Broadwell, the general's biographer and former mistress.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors recommended two years of probation and no prison time. But the judge who hears the plea is not bound by that recommendation. No immediate date was set for Petraeus to enter the plea.
Prosecutors said that while Broadwell was writing her book, Petraeus gave her binders of classified material containing, among other information, his daily schedule and notes about his discussions with President Barack Obama."
"On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that General David Petraeus had accepted a remarkably lenient plea deal that will ensure the retired four-star general does not face a highly public and humiliating trial. Prosecutors allege that Petraeus, while serving as director of the C.I.A., illegally gave his mistress access to classified information. That mistress, of course, was Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer.
As part of the deal, Patraeus will plead guilty to a single count of 'unlawfully and knowingly' removing classified material and storing it at 'unauthorized' locations—a criminal charge which carries up to one year in jail time. Had his case gone to trial, Patraeus would have likely faced a harsher charge and a more stringent punishment. A federal judge will now decide whether Patraeus must go to prison or whether he can simply serve probation."
House Speaker John Boehner Caves: The House of Representatives Passes a "Clean" Bill that Funds Homeland Securtity
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio; President Barack Obama; AP 2015 photo of a fence at the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"The House of Representatives approved full fiscal-year funding for the U.S. domestic security agency on Tuesday, dealing a blow to conservative Republicans who had wanted the bill to include language blocking President Barack Obama's recent executive orders on immigration.
The House, in a 257-167 vote, backed a Senate-passed funding bill stripped of any immigration provisions, ending a bitter fight that raised new questions about House Speaker John Boehner's ability to manage fractious conservatives and brought the agency within hours of a partial shutdown last week.
Obama has said he will sign the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts. Spending authority for the department was scheduled to end at midnight on Friday.
After weeks of drama, Boehner was ultimately left with few - if any - viable procedural options to keep the agency open while also satisfying conservatives who wanted the funding bill to block Obama's executive actions last year lifting the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented residents.
Senate Democrats had repeatedly blocked a House-passed bill that included the immigration provisions, while Obama and Democrats backed a 'clean' funding bill passed by the Senate."
"Bitterly admitting defeat, the Republican-controlled Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama on Tuesday that funds the Department of Homeland Security without any of the immigration-related concessions they demanded for months.
'Sanity is prevailing,' said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, before the House voted 257-167 in favor of the $40 billion spending bill, which Obama was expected to sign promptly. All 182 Democrats present voted for the bill, while it received only 75 Republican 'yes' votes."
---Associated Press, March 3, 2015
Massive Resistance and Culture War: The Alabama Supreme Court Orders a Halt to Same-Sex Marriage in the Heart of Dixie
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore; Map of Alabama with counties identified
Above: AL.com photo of Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis who, on February 12, 2015, was ordered by Federal Circuit Judge Callie Granade to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; Federal District Judge Callie Granade
"The Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges in the state on Tuesday to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in a ruling in apparent defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 7-1 ruling comes about three weeks after U.S. District Judge Callie Granade overturned the socially conservative state's ban on gay marriage in a decision that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to put on hold."
"Weeks after a United States District Court Judge in Mobile ordered a probate judge there to issue same-sex marriage licenses, the Alabama Supreme Court has ordered a halt to same-sex marriages in the state.
'As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman,' the order said. 'Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty.'
The order, called a writ of mandamus, had been requested by the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program last month."
"The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state’s probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, a decision that flies in the face of numerous rulings by federal judges in Alabama and other states across the country who have said banning gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.
The all-Republican court sided with a pair of conservative organizations Tuesday in ruling that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t alter the judges’ duty to administer state law, which defines marriage as between only one man and one woman. Six justices concurred in the 134-page opinion, which wasn’t signed, but the court’s most outspoken opponent of gay marriage, Chief Justice Roy Moore, recused himself.
Gay marriages began in some Alabama counties on Feb. 9 following a decision by U.S. District Judge Callie Granade of Mobile, who ruled that both Alabama’s constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional."
"The Justice Department won't prosecute a former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old, but in a scathing report released Wednesday faulted the city and its law enforcement for racial bias and unconstitutional practices.
Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove former officer Darren Wilson's testimony that he feared for his safety, nor were there reliable witness accounts to establish that Michael Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was shot.
But they also said the shooting occurred in an environment of systemic mistreatment of blacks, where officials trade racist emails and jokes and where minorities are disproportionately stopped and searched, fined for petty offenses and subject to excessive police force.
'Now that our investigation has reached its conclusion, it is time for Ferguson's leaders to take immediate, wholesale and structural corrective action,' Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement announcing the findings.
The decision in the August 9 shooting had been expected, in part because of the high legal standard needed for a federal civil rights prosecution. Wilson, who has said Brown struck him in the face and reached for his gun during a tussle, also had been cleared by a Missouri grand jury inNovember and later resigned from the department."
"Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that New York public schools will observe two of the most sacred Muslim holy days — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The changes to the school calendar, which already recognizes several Jewish and Christian holidays, fulfills a pledge Mr. de Blasio made during his campaign and represents the increasing influence of the city’s diverse Muslim community. The change will take effect in the 2015-16 academic year."
---New York Times, March 4, 2015
Harrison Ford Crashes Vintage Airplane
March 5, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: AP photo of Harrison Ford's vintage airplane, a plane he crashed on a California golf course on Thursday, March 5, 2015; AP graphic; AP photo of Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart at the 2014 Oscars ceremony
"When a man battles Darth Vader, Nazis and other evil-doers for work, what does he do for fun? Harrison Ford's answer is found in a pilot's license and the freedom to take to the skies at will.
But with adventure comes risk, just as Han Solo, Indiana Jones and other daring movie characters brought to life by Ford realized. On Thursday, one of Hollywood's preeminent stars added a plane crash to an aviation record that includes both mishaps and public service.
Ford, 72, who as dashing archaeologist Jones battled Hitler's henchmen in the World War II-set 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' was flying a vintage plane of that era when it lost engine power shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica Municipal Airport.
The plane crash-landed on a golf course near the airport where Ford houses the craft."
---Associated Press, March 6, 2015
Monthly Jobs Report: The U.S. Economy Created 295,000 Jobs in February 2015
March 6, 2015 (Friday)
Above: CNN graph chronicling monthly U.S. jobs creation from February 2014 through February 2015; President Barack Obama
"U.S. employment accelerated in February and the jobless rate fell to a more than 6-1/2 year low of 5.5 percent, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 295,000 last month after rising 239,000 in January, the Labor Department said on Friday. The decline in the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent in January took it to its lowest level since May 2008
The data suggested the U.S job market continued to strengthen, although the drop in the jobless rate largely reflected people leaving the labor force. Average hourly earnings rose by three cents last month."
---Reuters, March 6, 2015
Dow Jones Industrial Average Roster Announcement: Apple to Replace AT&T on March 18, 2015
"Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the largest U.S. company by market value, will join the storied Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, replacing AT&T Inc (T.N), in a change that reflects the dominant position of iPhone maker in the U.S. economy and society.
The decision to nudge aside AT&T, which has been part of the Dow for the better part of a century, is a recognition of the way in which communications and technology have evolved over the last several decades.
'This is a sign of the times, and it might get everyone to look at the Dow more than they have been,' said Richard Sichel, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.
'It would be difficult to pick any 30 companies that would cover the entire economy, especially compared with the S&P 500, but it does give the Dow more credibility.'
With a market capitalization of $736 billion, Apple is the largest publicly traded company in the index. The action, by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had been widely expected since Apple split its shares seven-for-one in June 2014."
"In the Dow's elite club, Apple is in and AT&T is out.
Apple will replace AT&T in the Dow Jones industrial average after the close of trading on Wednesday, March 18, the manager of the index announced early Friday. Apple will start trading as part of the 30-stock Dow at the opening of trading the next day.
THE REASON
S&P Dow Jones Indices, the index manager, said it's making the move in response to a planned stock split for Visa, another member of the 119-year old barometer of the stock market. After its four-to-one stock split, Visa will wind up with a lower price. S&P said that would reduce the weight of the information technology sector in the Dow, because Visa, a credit-card and payment-processing giant, counts as a tech stock. Adding Apple will help balance out this reduction.
THE IMPACT
S&P Dow Jones Indices said the decision won't alter the level of the index — which was near all-time highs of 17,960 early Friday. It is casting the move as a sort of a housekeeping maneuver, a way to ensure that this most famous of stock-market barometers better reflects the U.S. economy and markets."
---Associated Press, March 6, 2015
50th Anniversary of Selma's Bloody Sunday: President Obama at the Edmund Pettus Bridge
March 7, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photo of President Barack Obama, on the 50th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, speaking near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 2015; New York Times photo of President Obama, former President George W. Bush, and a host of other dignitaries march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of President Barack Obama speaking in Selma, Alabama near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of sunset as seen from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 6, 2015, the day prior to the 50th anniversary of the Selma, Alabama's Bloody Sunday
Above: Spider Martin photo entitled Two Minute Warning, an image showing Alabama law enforcement officers confronting civil rights marchers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 1965; AL.com photo of Alabama police attacking civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 1965
Above: AP photo of Alabama law enforcement officers beating civil rights marchers on "Bloody Sunday" near Selma, Alabama's Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 1965; AP photo of clouds of police-fired tear gas being used to disperse civil rights marchers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 1965
Above: Wikipedia map of Alabama with Dallas County (Selma is the County Seat) highlighted in red; EncyclopediaOfAlabama.org image of Confederate General Edmund Pettus, a subsequent Ku Klux Klan leader and U.S. Senator representing Alabama; Wikipedia photo of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a structure spanning the Alabama River
Above: U.S. Representative John Lewis, D-Georgia; AL.com photo of Bloody Sunday marcher and incumbent Congressman John Lewis, D-Georgia, holding hands with President Obama and former President George W. Bush, Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of U.S. Congressman john Lewis, D-Georgia, and President Barack Obama, at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015; AL.com photo of President Obama speaking at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of President Barack Obama (center-left in white shirt) and First Lady Michelle Obama holding hands with Congressman John Lewis and leading a large group of dignitaries across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 2015; Photo of John Lewis--who suffered a serious head injury on Bloody Sunday---marching on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March 1965
"With a nod to ongoing U.S. racial tension and attempts to limit voting rights, President Barack Obama declared the work of the Civil Rights Movement advanced but unfinished on Saturday on a visit to the Alabama bridge that spawned a landmark voting law.
Obama, the first black U.S. president, said discrimination revealed in a report about law enforcement practices in Ferguson, Missouri, this week showed a lot of work needed to be done on race in America, but he warned it was wrong to suggest that progress had not been made.
'Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer,' Obama said, standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police and state troopers beat and used tear gas against peaceful marchers who were advocating against racial discrimination at the voting booth.
The event became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and prompted a follow-up march led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. that spurred the 1965 Voting Rights Act."
"America's racial history 'still casts its long shadow upon us,' President Barack Obama said Saturday as he stood in solidarity and remembrance with civil rights activists whose beatings by police a half-century ago galvanized much of the nation against racial oppression and hastened passage of historic voting rights for minorities. Tens of thousands of people joined to commemorate the 'Bloody Sunday' march of 1965 and take stock of the struggle for equality.
Under a bright sun, the first black U.S. president praised the figures of a civil rights era that he was too young to know but that helped him break the ultimate racial barrier in political history with his ascension to the highest office. He called them 'warriors of justice' who pushed America closer to a more perfect union.
'So much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher — met on this bridge,' Obama told the crowd before taking a symbolic walk across part of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the 1965 march erupted into police violence.
'It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills, a contest to determine the meaning of America,' Obama said. He was 3 years old at the time of the march.
A veteran of that clash, Rep. John Lewis, who was brought down by police truncheons that day in 1965 and suffered a skull fracture, exhorted the crowd to press on with the work of racial justice.
'Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America,' Lewis said. He was the youngest and is the last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement."
"As a new generation struggles over race and power in America, President Obama and a host of political figures from both parties came here [Selma, Alabama] on Saturday, to the site of one of the most searing days of the civil rights era, to reflect on how far the country has come and how far it still has to go.
Fifty years after peaceful protesters trying to cross a bridge were beaten by police officers with billy clubs, shocking the nation and leading to passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, the nation’s first African-American president led a bipartisan, multiracial testimonial to the pioneers whose courage helped pave the way for his own election to the highest office of the land."
Above: AL.com photo of a massive crowd of people walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on Sunday, March 8, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of a young child standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 8, 2015; Reuters photo of people walking on the Edmund Pettus Bridge (a structure spanning the Alabama River), March 8, 2015
Above: Wikipedia map of Alabama with the Coosa, Alabama, and Mobile Rivers highlighted; Wikipedia map of Alabama with Dallas County (Selma is the county seat) highlighted in red
"Thousands of people began walking across a Selma, Alabama bridge on Sunday in a re-enactment of the 1965 'Bloody Sunday' march, part of a weekend of events marking the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the U.S. civil rights movement.
Some of those gathered in Selma also planned to set out Monday on a march to Montgomery along the route that Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers walked in the wake of Bloody Sunday, a march that helped spur the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, took its name from the beating that roughly 600 peaceful civil rights activists sustained at the hands of white state troopers and police who attacked them with batons and sprayed them with tear gas on the Edmund Pettus Bridge."
"Thousands of people crowded an Alabama bridge on Sunday to commemorate a bloody confrontation 50 years ago between police and peaceful protesters that helped bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
A day after President Barack Obama had walked atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge, many jammed shoulder to shoulder, many unable to move, as they recalled the civil rights struggle.
Police said at least 15,000 to 20,000 people had joined the crush on and around the small bridge. Many came around the country for several events commemorating the landmark moment."
---Associated Press, March 8, 2015
University of Oklahoma Fraternity Shut Down Due to Racist Chants Caught on Video
March 8, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: ABC News photo of the University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house
"A University of Oklahoma fraternity is being closed and its members suspended by the group's national organization after a video surfaced and quickly went viral of what the national organization confirms is some of the OU chapter's members chanting racist slurs.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon said Sunday night that an investigation had confirmed the contents of a video showing multiple people chanting a racial slur against blacks and indicating that blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity. The chant also references lynching.
The national fraternity said in a statement that it was 'embarrassed' by the 'unacceptable and racist' behavior."
"A fraternity fraught with scandal quickly shut down a chapter in Oklahoma when a video surfaced that showed members singing a racist chant that used the n-word.
The video shows a group of young white students chanting the n-word loudly and boisterously while riding on a bus.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national chapter shut down the chapter Sunday night, suspended all of the chapter's members and threatened to remove those responsible from the fraternity for life."
---CNN, March 9, 2015
Forty-seven GOP Senators Send Letter Discouraging a Nuclear Deal Between Iran and the U.S.
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., author of the letter sent to Iran's leadership; George Cabot, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts who presided over the Hartford Convention of 1814-15, a gathering of Federalists opposed to the James Madison Administration, a gathering that considered New England secession from the United States
"Forty-seven Republican U.S. senators warned Iran's leaders on Monday that any nuclear deal with President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, an unusual partisan intervention in foreign policy that could undermine delicate international talks with Tehran.
The open letter was signed by all but seven of the Republicans in the Senate and none of Obama's fellow Democrats, who called it a 'stunt.' Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dismissed it as a 'propaganda ploy' from pressure groups he called afraid of diplomatic agreement.
In the letter, the senators said Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements. Noting Obama will leave office in January 2017, they said any deal not approved by Congress would be merely 'an executive agreement' that could be revoked by Congress.
The White House said the letter was a partisan effort to undermine Obama's foreign policy by lawmakers who oppose a deal even if the only alternative is military action."
"It is a useful thing when a political party reveals itself as utterly unsuited for national leadership. This may be the one redeeming feature of Monday’s letter to the Iranian government signed by 47 (or, to put it another way, all but seven) Senate Republicans."
"On paper, Cotton looks like a dream politician with nowhere to go but up — Iraq veteran, Harvard Law School graduate, the youngest senator at 37. It’s only when you listen to him talk and hear what he believes that you come to realize he’s a complete crackpot."
"What happens when senators and congressmen go around a controversial president to communicate directly with the enemy? They undermine the stability of their own party — and the integrity of the nation.
That’s what happened to the Federalists, the glorious political party of George Washington, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. Could the same thing happen to today’s Republican Party?"
---Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Reuters Columnist, March 11, 2015
The University of Oklahoma Reacts to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity's Racist Rant
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photos of student protesters at the University of Oklahoma, March 9, 2015
Above: AP photo of University of Oklahoma President David Boren speaking at a press conference, March 9, 2015; AP photo of workers removing Greek letters from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Oklahoma, March 9, 2015
"The president of the University of Oklahoma severed the school's ties with a national fraternity on Monday and ordered that its on-campus house be shuttered after several members took part in a racist chant caught on video.
President David Boren said he was sickened and couldn't eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. The video, which was posted online, shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice on Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Meanwhile, a top high school recruit withdrew his commitment to the university after seeing the video.
Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted the fraternity members as 'disgraceful' and called their behavior 'reprehensible.' He said the university was looking into a range of punishment, including expulsion.
'This is not who we are,' Boren said at a midday news conference. 'I'd be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.'"
Six Years After the Dow's Nadir in the Great Recession, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Closed at 17,995
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing a Dow Jones Industrial Average close of 17,995 on March 9, 2015, six years after the Dow closed at 6,547 on March 9, 2009
The University of Oklahoma Expels Two Students for Leading a Racist Chant at Fraternity Event
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: David Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma
Above: 2013Dallas Morning News photo of Levi Pettit (then a student at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas ) who, on March 10, 2015 was expelled from the University of Oklahoma for his participation in the singing of a racist song during an Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity event; NBCDFW.com photo of Parker Rice, an SAE fraternity member who was expelled from the University of Oklahoma because of his participation in the singing of a racist song during an SAE event
Above: Highland Park High School crest, the high school in Dallas, Texas from which Levi Pettit graduated in 2013; Jesuit College Preparatory School seal, the school in Dallas, Texas from which Parker Rice graduated in 2014
"The University of Oklahoma's president expelled two students Tuesday after he said they were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event.
University President David Boren said in a statement the two students were dismissed for creating a 'hostile learning environment for others.' Their names were not released.
The video posted online shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Boren acted swiftly after the video surfaced late Sunday, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house shuttered Monday and announcing the expulsions Tuesday.
'I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realize that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people,' he said.
Boren said the university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face discipline.
Windows at the fraternity were boarded up and moving vans were parked outside Tuesday. Members have until midnight to remove their belongings. The Greek letters have already been removed from the side of the sprawling, sand-colored brick house on a street lined with fraternity and sorority houses just west of the center of campus."
"Officials with the University of Oklahoma here on Tuesday expelled two students they had identified as playing a leading role in singing a racist chant on a bus over the weekend that has sparked outrage across the country.
The university’s president, David L. Boren, a former Oklahoma governor, expelled the two students but did not identify them, saying in a statement that they had 'created a hostile learning environment for others.'
Mr. Boren said the university was continuing its investigation of all the students involved in singing the chant, and that once the identities of other students had been confirmed, 'they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.'
The expulsion letter to the students states that the action takes effect immediately and that they can contact the university’s Equal Opportunity Officer to contest the decision."
2016 Presidential Election: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Addresses Email Controversy
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a press conference at the United Nations in New York City, March 10, 2015
"Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she should have used a government email account as U.S. secretary of state, though she said she violated no rules, in her first public remarks over a controversy that could cloud her expected bid for the White House.
Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, has come under fire for using a private email account for official business when she was the top U.S. diplomat because of concerns that she hid important facts about her tenure and put her correspondence at a security risk."
---Reuters, March 10, 2015
The Dow Loses 332 Points
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 332 points on March 10, 2015, closing at 17,662
The War Against ISIS: Iraqi Forces Move Into Tikrit
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Associated Press photos (derived from video) of either Iraqi forces and/or Shi'ite militiamen battling ISIS forces in Tikrit, Iraq, March 11, 2015
Above: New York Times map of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
"Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen swept into the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, launching a two-front offensive to squeeze extremists out of Saddam Hussein's hometown in a major test of the troops' resolve.
Explosions and heavy gunfire echoed through Tikrit, a key way station for Iraqi forces trying to expel the militants who hold roughly a third of the country and neighboring Syria. The offensive also will serve as a major crucible for Iraqi forces, which collapsed under the extremists' initial offensive last year and now face street-by-street fighting in one of the Islamic State group's biggest strongholds.
Allied Iraqi forces first entered the city through its northern Qadisiyya neighborhood, according to video obtained by The Associated Press. Overhead, an attack helicopter fired missiles as soldiers and militiamen laid down heavy machine gunfire in the neighborhood's dusty streets as downtown Tikrit loomed in the distance, black smoke rising overhead.
Officials quickly established a supply line through the neighborhood to reinforce troops, Salahuddin police Brig. Kheyon Rasheed told the state-run Iraqiyya television. Authorities offered no immediate casualty figures, though Iran's state-run Press TV satellite channel reported that a mortar attack wounded one of its cameramen there.
A local official in Iraq's Salahuddin province confirmed that Iraqi troops entered Qadisiyya and raised the Iraqi flag over Tikrit's general hospital. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief journalists.
Later Wednesday, allied forces also swept into Tikrit from the south in a pincer movement to squeeze out militants, though some suggested many already fled in the face of the advance, codenamed 'At your service, prophet of Allah.'"
"Militant fighters of the Islamic State mounted one of their fiercest assaults in months on Wednesday, setting off 21 car bombs in the city of Ramadi, even as the group lost ground in an Iraqi government offensive in Tikrit, security officials said.
Security forces fought Islamic State holdouts in two remaining neighborhoods on the west side of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, where militants massacred more than 1,000 Shiite Iraqi soldiers last year.
The city has been the focus of a weeklong assault by Iraqi forces, the largest operation against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, since it swept into control of much of the country last year. Iraqi government troops and their Shiite militia allies appeared to be close to recapturing the city on Wednesday and scoring a strategically and emotionally significant victory."
---New York Times, March 11, 2015
Embattled Ferguson, Missouri Police Chief Resigns
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters August 15, 2015 file photo of Ferguson, Missouri Police Chief Thomas Jackson; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Michael Brown
"The police chief of Ferguson, Missouri, resigned on Wednesday, following a scathing U.S. Justice Department report that found widespread racially biased abuses in the city's police department and municipal court.
The resignation of Chief Thomas Jackson, which the city announced in a brief statement, is the latest in a string of departures since the Justice Department announced on March 4 that a months-long probe had uncovered a range of unlawful and unconstitutional practices.
Protesters had called for Jackson's removal since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. The killing triggered protests in cities around the country and drew national scrutiny to police use of deadly force, especially against black men.
Neither a grand jury proceeding nor the federal probe led to any charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown."
---Reuters, March 11, 2015
Protest in Dallas, Texas at the Home of Expelled University of Oklahoma Student, Parker Rice
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: NBCDFW.com photo of Parker Rice; AP photo of the Reverend Dominique Alexander, leader of the Next Generation Action Network, speaking on March 11, 2015 in front of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, one of the members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Oklahoma expelled for singing a racist song during a fraternity event
Above: AP photos of protesters in front of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Above: AP photo of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, Wednesday, March 11, 2015; AP photo of the Dallas, Texas home of Levi Pettit, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
"About two dozen protesters marched Wednesday night outside the Dallas home of a former University of Oklahoma fraternity member who was shown in a video chanting a racial slur.
A Dallas-area advocacy group, the Next Generation Action Network, said the peaceful protest was planned at the family home of Parker Rice. Rice has apologized for participating in the chant, which also referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
The Rev. Dominique Alexander, who leads the Next Generation Action Network, said protesters wanted to send a message: 'We're not going to stand for that.'
Someone placed a small sign in front of the Rice home that reads 'Racism is Taught.'"
"More than a dozen protesters marched outside the northwest Dallas home of a former University of Oklahoma student caught in a racist fraternity video, offering chants of their own against racism.
'Racism is taught,' the protesters shouted. 'Silence is consent.' 'Teach your kids another way. No modern-day KKK.'
The protest was initiated by the Next Generation Action Network, a Grand Prairie-based organization that has also protested the handling of a recent shooting of an unarmed man by a Grapevine police officer.
The group’s founder and president, Dominique Alexander, said he wanted 'to make a bold statement' about the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the video and those in it. His group called for a federal investigation of possible civil rights violations by the fraternity and called on Dallas residents to take acts of racism seriously."
---Dallas Morning News, March 12, 2015
Two Police Officers Shot in Ferguson, Missouri
March 12, 2015 ( Early Thursday)
Above: AP photos of police officers taking cover in Ferguson, Missouri, early Thursday, March 12, 2015
Above: Michael Brown; Former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
"Two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, were shot early on Thursday in what officials called an ambush following months of acute tensions over relations between police and minority groups in the St. Louis suburb.
The officers were in serious condition at a local hospital, said St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, and a manhunt was under way for a suspect or suspects.
A 41-year-old officer from the St. Louis County Police was struck in the shoulder and a 32-year-old officer from the nearby Webster Groves Police Department had a bullet lodged near his ear after it passed through his cheek, Belmar said."
"Two officers were shot in front of the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday while demonstrators were gathered across the street — an attack the county police chief described as 'an ambush' that could easily have killed both men.
The shots were fired just as a small crowd of protesters began to break up after holding a demonstration in the wake of the resignation of the Ferguson police chief, who stepped down Wednesday.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said one officer was shot in the face, just below his right eye, with the bullet lodging behind his ear. The other officer was hit in the shoulder, and the bullet came out his back.
Both men were expected to recover without suffering any long-term damage, Belmar said, but the wounds might have been mortal. 'We could have buried two police officers next week over this,' he said.
The 32-year-old officer who was shot in the face was from nearby Webster Groves. The second officer, 41, came from the St. Louis County force.
Both were taken to a hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious.
Authorities believe the shots came from a handgun fired about 120 yards away. There were no suspects in custody.
Based on where the officers were standing and the trajectory of the bullets, the shots appeared to be aimed directed at the police, Belmar said."
---Associated Press, March 12, 2015
Fraternities Racism Scandal: SAE Investigates Chapters at the University of Texas and Louisiana Tech
March 12, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: University of Texas seal; Louisiana Tech University seal
"The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity said Thursday it was investigating racism allegations at universities in Louisiana and Texas after hearing that young men at two schools sang or knew of the same racist chant caught on video in Oklahoma last weekend.
Spokesman Brandon Weghorst said the chapter at the University of Texas at Austin was being 'fully cooperative' and that a probe at Louisiana Tech in Ruston was in its early stages. He said no new allegations had been substantiated.
A nine-second video recorded last weekend caught members of the fraternity's University of Oklahoma chapter singing a song that used a derogatory term for black people and referenced lynching. University president David Boren ordered the SAE house shuttered and expelled two students identified as ringleaders.
'We had no idea of this type of behavior was going on underground,' Weghorst said Thursday. 'If we don't know about it, we can't stop it.'
The board of trustees and alumni of the University of Oklahoma's SAE chapter released a statement Wednesday night acknowledging the chant surfaced at the chapter 'three to four years ago and was not immediately and totally stopped. It should have been.'
At the University of Texas in Austin, the president of the local SAE had previously issued a statement denying that his chapter had ever performed a similar chant. Luke Cone said he could 'speak on the behalf of my fraternity brothers that we are all profoundly distressed' about the language in the video.
The SAE chapter at Louisiana Tech did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday."
---Associated Press, March 12, 2015
The War Against ISIS: Possible Stall in Iraqi Attempt to Re-Take Tikrit from ISIS
March 13, 2015 (Friday)
Above: New York Timesmap of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
"The offensive to retake Tikrit appeared to stall on Friday, two days after Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.
A source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which Islamic State still holds around half.
Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the militants have turned the city into a labyrinth of home-made bombs and booby-trapped buildings, and are using snipers to halt their progress.
Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Shi'ite paramilitary Badr Organization and now one of the most powerful men in Iraq said the outcome of the battle for Tikrit was in no doubt, but Iraqi forces needed time."
---Reuters, March 13, 2015
The War Against ISIS: Iraqi Offensive in Tikrit Stalls for a Second Day
March 14, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: New York Timesmap of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
"Iraqi forces and mainly Shi'ite militiamen battling to wrest full control of the city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants paused their offensive for a second day on Saturday as they awaited reinforcements, a military source said.
More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite fighters entered Tikrit on Wednesday, having retaken areas to the north and south in Iraq's biggest offensive against the militants yet.
Islamic State fighters still hold about half the city and have booby-trapped buildings and laid improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs, the source in the local military command center told Reuters."
---Reuters, March 14, 2015
20-Year-Old Man Arrested in Ferguson Police Shootings
March 15, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: Associated Press map showing the shooting Ferguson, Missouri sites of Michael Brown (August 9, 2014) and the two police officers (March 12, 2015); AP copy of St. Louis County Police Department photo of Jeffrey Williams, age 20, Sunday, March 15, 2015
"A 20-year-old man charged Sunday with shooting two police officers watching over a demonstration outside the Ferguson Police Department had attended a protest there earlier that night but told investigators he wasn't targeting the officers, authorities said.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said suspect Jeffrey Williams told authorities he was firing at someone with whom he was in a dispute."
---Associated Press, March 15, 2015
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in east Jerusalem, Monday, March 16, 2015
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that as long as he is the leader, a Palestinian state would not be established, reversing his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr. Netanyahu made the assertion on the eve of an election in which he is trailing in the polls. He has been campaigning aggressively, appealing to conservatives for support."
"Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state and vowed to strengthen construction in east Jerusalem settlements as he appealed to hard-line voters in a frenzied, final day of campaigning on the eve of national elections.
While Netanyahu's comments were election rhetoric, they nonetheless put him further at odds with the international community, boding poorly for already strained relations with the U.S. and other key allies if he wins a third consecutive term.
Netanyahu, who has governed for the past six years and has long been the most dominant personality in Israeli politics, has watched his standing plummet in recent weeks.
Recent opinion polls show his Likud Party lagging behind Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union. Herzog, a centrist who has vowed to revive peace efforts with the Palestinians, repair ties with the U.S. and reduce the growing gaps between rich and poor, confidently predicted an 'upheaval' was imminent.
Late Monday night, it was announced that Herzog's main partner, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, had given up an agreement to rotate the prime minister post with Herzog if their alliance wins.
Tuesday's election caps an acrimonious three-month campaign that is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu.
The hard-line leader has portrayed himself as the only politician capable of confronting Israel's numerous security challenges, while his opponents have focused on the country's high cost of living and presented Netanyahu as imperious and out of touch with the common man.
As Netanyahu's poll numbers have dropped in recent days, he has appeared increasingly desperate, stepping up his nationalistic rhetoric in a series of interviews to local media to appeal to his core base. Netanyahu has also complained of an international conspiracy to oust him, funded by wealthy foreigners who dislike him, and on Sunday night, he addressed an outdoor rally before tens of thousands of hard-line supporters in Tel Aviv."
---Associated Press, March 16, 2015
The Dow Gains 1.29%
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 228 points on March 16, 2015, closing at 17,977
NFL Linebacker Chris Borland Retires After Outstanding Rookie Season with the San Francisco 49ers
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: San Francisco 49ers rookie linebacker Chris Borland celebrating a play against the New York Giants on November 16, 2014
"San Francisco 49ers player Chris Borland, a leading rookie last season, is retiring from the NFL over health concerns related to repeated head trauma, ESPN and the team said on Monday."
"San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the NFL's top rookies this past season, told 'Outside the Lines' on Monday that he is retiring because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma.
Borland, 24, said he notified the 49ers on Friday. He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, as well as studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease."
"Wary of head trauma, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland is leaving football. And not even the promise of NFL stardom and piles of money could change his mind.
So now, after one stellar rookie season, he is retiring at age 24.
The 49ers announced his decision Monday night, without offering specifics. But Borland told ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' earlier in the day he wants to do 'what's best for my health.'
Borland had a team-leading 108 tackles as a rookie, emerging as a punishing defender. He also had a sack and two interceptions.
'From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk,' Borland said in the interview. 'I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been. For me, it's wanting to be proactive. I'm concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it's too late.'"
"The news Monday night was shocking, even at a time in which the NFL has had one shocking headline after another. Chris Borland is quitting one of the most coveted jobs in America, retiring as a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers at 24 because he’s concerned about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma. Now, just weeks before a new crop of college kids are drafted into the league, the NFL finds its offseason dominated by stories about young players who are quitting.
Borland becomes the fourth player at the age of 30 or younger to retire in just the last week, joining Patrick Willis, another 49ers linebacker who quit six days earlier because of pain in his feet. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds is quitting at 27 to do religious work and Jake Locker, a Tennessee Titans quarterback who was an NFL bust, says he 'has no burning desire to play.'"
"Football is on trial, and the evidence against it is mounting. The speed with which America’s favorite game has gone from celebrated to excoriated is breathtaking. Just as stunning, no one seems to have a solution to reverse the trend.
Where is the perfect helmet, the rule changes or the unexpected Solution X that heals the sport now that its essential nature is known?"
---Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, March 17, 2015
"That in a nutshell is the far more serious existential problem the NFL faces. It's not that there won't be people 'literally begging' to play the game. It's that college athletes like Chris Borland who don't come from dire poverty will in greater and greater numbers choose to do something else with their minds and bodies. Many NFL players began their lives in destitute situations defined by hardship, but many others come to the league from stable, middle class backgrounds as well. That middle class player, especially those like Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick who played multiple sports, will become scarce. Meanwhile as ticket prices rise, we are facing a sport ready to go 'full gladiator' as poor people, disproportionately black, damage each other’s brains for wealthy, disproportionately white crowds. For an NFL that likes to paint itself as synonymous with America and apple pie, this has the potential to just be an awful commercial look. It could become a disturbing revealed truth about where this country is headed. In history class, Chris Borland probably studied Rome. That didn't end well. But he also surely learned that history could be altered through conscious acts of resistance against the way things ought to be. Mr. Borland gave us such an act this week. His career may by over. But I’d bet a great deal we will hear his name again."
---Dave Zirin, The Nation, March 18, 2015
Republican U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock Announces Resignation
March 17, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: U.S. Representative Aaron Schock, R-Illinois
"Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock abruptly resigned Tuesday following a monthlong cascade of revelations about his business deals and lavish spending on everything from overseas travel to office decor in the style of 'Downton Abbey.'"
---Associated Press, March 17, 2015
Parliamentary Elections in Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party Wins
March 17, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing before Likud Party Supporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 18, 2015 (Israeli time)
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift in which he abandoned a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
Difficult coalition talks still lie ahead. Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's chief opponent and head of the center-left Zionist Union, said 'everything is still open' and that he already had spoken to party leaders about forming a government.
But after days in which Zionist Union appeared poised to defeat Netanyahu's Likud, the exit polls late on Tuesday put the two parties in a dead heat. Netanyahu could have the easier path to forming a cabinet, which would put him on course to becoming Israel's longest serving leader.
He pulled off the feat with a pitch for ultranationalist votes in the final days of the hard-fought campaign, using tactics that could deepen a feud with the White House, at least as long as President Barack Obama remains in office."
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a come-from-behind victory in Israel's election after tacking hard to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
In a pre-election blitz, Netanyahu made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties. He pledged to go on building settlements on occupied land and said there would be no Palestinian state if he was re-elected.
With 99.5 percent of votes counted on Wednesday, Likud had won 29-30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, comfortably defeating the center-left Zionist Union opposition on 24 seats, Israel's Central Election Committee and Israeli media said. A united list of Arab parties came in third."
"Benjamin Netanyahu's apparent reelection puts Israel on a course toward ever deeper confrontation with the world. To govern, his Likud Party would need to depend on ultranationalists — a recipe for neither stability nor bold moves toward Mideast peace.
A period of some horsetrading looms. With Likud as well as rightist and religious allies, Netanyahu still only commands 57 out of 120 parliament seats. He must woo Moshe Kahlon, a relative newcomer to the big leagues of Israeli politics. Breaking away from Netanyahu's nationalist Likud two years ago after a falling out with the premier, he adopted a vaguely centrist platform and flirted with Isaac Herzog's more moderate Zionist Union. If he is non-aligned as he claims, then he holds the balance of power between Israel's traditional right and left blocs, each with just under half of parliament.
It is widely thought that it would be too awkward for the former Likud figure to crown the opposition unless Herzog's party enjoyed a cushion of several seats over Likud. Polls had suggested that would happen, but the actual vote count on Wednesday showed the opposite: Likud was ahead by 30-24 seats.
If Kahlon does go with Netanyahu, it would give the hard-liner a fourth term that, if completed, would make him Israel's longest-serving leader, on par with the nation's founder David Ben Gurion.
That would not bode well for prospects of peace with the Palestinians or a rapprochement between Israel and the region, which seems tantalizingly close in an era in which many of the neighboring Arab nations fear jihadi extremism far more than they oppose Israel."
---Associated Press, March 18, 2015
Terrorist Attack in Tunisia
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: APMap of Tunisia regarding the terrorist attack on the National Bardo Museum
"Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum on Wednesday, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that had largely escaped the region's 'Arab Spring' turmoil.
Five Japanese as well as visitors from Italy, Poland and Spainwere among the dead in the noon assault on Bardo museum inside the heavily guarded parliament compound in central Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said."
"Foreign tourists scrambled in panic Wednesday after militants stormed a museum in Tunisia's capital and killed 19 people, 'shooting at anything that moved,' a witness said.
Two gunmen were slain by security forces following the deadliest attack on civilians in the North African country in 13 years, and the president said the young democracy was embroiled in a war with terror.
The militants, who wore military-style uniforms and wielded assault rifles, burst from a vehicle and began gunning down tourists climbing out of buses at the National Bardo Museum. The attackers then charged inside to take hostages before being killed in a firefight with security forces.
Authorities launched a manhunt for two or three accomplices in the attack. Prime Minister Habib Essid said the two Tunisian gunmen killed 17 tourists — five from Japan, four from Italy, two from Colombia, two from Spain, and one each from Australia, Poland and France. The nationality of one dead foreigner was not released. Essid said two Tunisian nationals also were killed by the militants.
At least 44 people were wounded, including tourists from Italy, France, Japan, South Africa, Poland, Belgium and Russia, according to Essid and doctors from Tunis' Charles Nicolle."
---Associated Press, March 18, 2015
Culture War: The 2015 Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; Karl Marx (1818-1883), author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital
"Richard Thompson is no stranger to attending Baldwin County Commission meetings and stirring up a bit of controversy.
Lately, he's shown up wearing sunglasses - he has said it's for a medical reason - and has spoken in opposition to a variety of county-related issues. He's a developer from Fairhope who has often been a frequent critic of the county's land use policies.
Last month, he suggested the county rid itself of any public process before approving small subdivisions. That request was not acted upon.
But on Wednesday, Thompson took his criticism of Baldwin-related issues to another level when he distributed a single sheet of paper with the words of the world's most well-known communist - Karl Marx.
'No need to respond,' Thompson said.
He distributed the '10 Planks of Communism' written by Karl Marx within 'Communist Manifesto' published in 1848 as one of the steps necessary toward destroying a free enterprise system and replacing it with a communist socialist state.
The 10th plank? 'Free education for all children in government schools.'"
---AL.com, March 18, 2015
The Dow Closes Above 18,000
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing a Dow Jones Industrial Average close at 18,076 on March 18, 2015; AT&T logo (The company had its last day as one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average)
Apple Joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Replacing AT&T
March 19, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: The 3M Company; American Express; Apple Incorporated
Above: TheBoeing Company; Caterpillar; Chevron
Above: Cisco Systems; The Coca-Cola Company; The Walt Disney Company
Above: DuPont; ExxonMobil; General Electric
Above: Goldman Sachs; The Home Depot; International Business Machines (IBM)
Above: Intel; Johnson & Johnson; J.P. Morgan Chase & Company
Above: McDonald's; Merck; Microsoft
Above: Nike; Pfizer; Procter and Gamble
Above: The Travelers Group; United Technologies; UnitedHealth Group
Above: Verizon Communications; Visa Incorporated; Wal-Mart Stores
"Suicide bombers in the Yemeni capital Sanaa blew themselves up during Friday prayers at two mosques used by supporters of Shi'ite rebels, killing 126 people and wounding 260, medical sources said, in the country's deadliest militant attack in years.
Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attacks, in which four bombers wearing explosive belts targeted worshippers in and outside the crowded mosques."
"In the deadliest attack on civilians in Yemen in recent memory, more than 100 people were killed on Friday when suicide bombers attacked two Zaydi Shiite mosques in the capital, Sana, during weekly prayers. A group claiming to be the Yemeni division of the Islamic State militant group said it was responsible for the attack, raising fears of a growing shift toward sectarian violence in the country’s civil conflict.
Hospitals in the capital made urgent appeals for blood to treat the hundreds of people injured in the explosions at the Badr and Hashoush mosques, which were apparently coordinated. Another suicide bomber was detected before he could reach a mosque in the northern province of Saada, a stronghold of the Houthi rebel movement, which controls Sana and since September has been Yemen’s most dominant force."
---New York Times, March 20, 2015
The Dow Gained 168 Points
March 20, 2015 (Friday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 18,127 on March 20, 2015
NCAA Men's Basketball: Kentucky Defeats Cincinnati to Remain Undefeated and Advance to the Sweet Sixteen
March 21, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photo of a Kentucky player driving against a Cincinnati defender in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 21, 2015
"Aaron Harrison scored 13 points, Trey Lyles added 11 with 11 rebounds and top-ranked Kentucky outworked eighth-seeded Cincinnati for a 64-51 victory Saturday to remain undefeated and reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight season."
"Shiite rebels backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh seized Yemen's third largest city of Taiz and its airport on Sunday, security and military officials said, as thousands took to the streets in protest.
One person was killed and four wounded when the rebels, known as Houthis, fired on the crowd, security officials said. A few dozen were choked by tear gas.
If the rebels hold onto the city, the capital of Yemen's most populous province, it would be a major blow to embattled current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who established a base in the southern city of Aden just 140 kilometers (85 miles) away after fleeing the rebel-held capital last month.
The seizure comes a day after the rebels called for a general mobilization against forces loyal to Hadi, after he gave a defiant speech challenging the Houthis in his first public address since leaving Sanaa."
---Associated Press, March 22, 2015
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Announces his Candidacy for President of the United States
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photo of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, March 23, 2015
"Sen. Ted Cruz opened the first major campaign of the 2016 presidential season Monday with a kickoff speech courting cultural conservatives and declaring that he will devote himself to 'reigniting the promise of America.'
One of several Republican hopefuls to rise from the tea party movement, Cruz spoke at Liberty University, the college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, hours after a wee-hours tweet announcing his White House bid. The choice of the college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell was meant as marker against potential rivals who are also counting on Christian conservatives to fuel their candidacies.
Cruz addressed his religious faith, his father's Cuban roots and his unquestioned conservative credentials, saying 'for so many Americans the promise of America seems more and more distant.'
And he asked the enthusiastic crowd to 'imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders.' 'Imagine a simple flat tax,' he said. 'Imagine abolishing the IRS.'
He spoke on the fifth anniversary of President Barack Obama's health care law — legislation that prompted Cruz to stand for more than 21 hours in the Senate to denounce it in a marathon speech that delighted his tea party constituency and other foes of the law.
Cheers rose in the hall when Cruz reminded the crowd Monday that Liberty University filed a suit against the law right after its enactment.
'God's blessing has been on America from the very beginning of this nation and I believe that God isn't done with Americans,' Cruz said. 'I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America. And that is that is why, today, I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States of America.'"
---Associated Press, March 23, 2015
Culture War: The Debate Over the Proposed Property Tax Increase in Baldwin County, Alabama
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of Baldwin County Board of Education Member Cecil Christenberry speaking to a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting (Spanish Fort, Alabama) in support of the proposed Baldwin County property tax increase, March 23, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of a "Vote No" anti-tax sign posted at the Spanish Fort, Alabama Wintzell's Restaurant during a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting, Monday, March 23, 2015; AL.com photo of anti-tax speaker John Howard speaking to a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting at Wintzell's Restaurant in Spanish Fort, Alabama, Monday, March 23, 2015
"The battle of financial figures continued to fester between both sides of the hotly contested school tax referendum in Baldwin County.
For opponents, the issue comes down to whether the county's school system is asking for too much money - 8 mills increase in property taxes - from voters on March 31.
The additional tax, if endorsed by voters, will add $350 million into the school system over the next 10 years for a comprehensive, school-supported expansion project.
Proponents say the increase is necessary to address and overcrowding of the county's schools system with about 100 portable classrooms that will only grow if the school construction plan doesn't move forward.
Both sides disputed each others numbers with claims that the other side is misleading the public, including senior citizens.
The dispute also underscored what has become a divisive referendum for Baldwin County where, in many cases, it's not uncommon to see neighborhoods mixed with orange 'Build Baldwin Now' signs and yellow 'Vote No 'New Taxes.'"
"Alabama's dispute over same-sex marriage surfaced Monday during a forum over a hotly contested property tax referendum for the Baldwin County School System.
John Howard, a private school teacher and tax opponent, linked 'gay marriage' to the tax issue as an example of unknown influences the federal government might pass along to public schools.
He made his remarks as a representative of the opposition during a forum that drew approximately 100 people at Wintzell's Oyster House in Spanish Fort.
'You talk about praying (in classrooms) but teachers cannot stand up in school and do that and I'm concerned as to where we are headed,' Howard said. 'Let's say the Supreme Court says gay marriage is fine ...'
The comment sparked immediate groans from a crowd of tax proponents with the 'Build Baldwin Now' organization who felt it veered off topic.
'Do you not think for a moment that it isn't coming down the pike for public education as well?' Howard continued. 'Let's not be naïve. Local public schools are going to be influenced by what's coming down the pike from the federal government.'
Howard later said he felt he didn't know if it was wise to bring the same-sex marriage issue up, but acknowledged that the one of the state's most impassionate social issues has relevance in the county's school tax discussion.
'If we think 30 years down the road, things have changed so much,' Howard said, referring to the 30-year time frame in which the proposed 8 mill tax increase, if approved by voters, will last. 'There are issues in Washington (that will affect local schools in years to come).'"
---AL.com, March 23, 2015
Racial Conflict in St. Louis, Missouri: An Assault in a MetroLink Train
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: St. LouisPost-Dispatch photo taken via video from MetroLink Train, an image showing young adult male identified as assailant who beat a passenger on the train, Monday, March 23, 2015 photo; St. Louis Post-Dispatchscreen-grab from a social media site, an image showing a young adult male beating an adult passenger (a white man) on a St. Louis MetroLink Train on March 23, 2015
Above: Michael Brown; Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
"A 43-year-old man who was riding a MetroLink train Monday night was attacked by several men after one of them asked him about the Michael Brown 'situation,' police said.
A video posted to Facebook appears to show the attack, and MetroLink released surveillance images of suspects.
Police said the victim, who is white, was punched and kicked by three black men, one of whom had made the reference to the teen killed in Ferguson by a police officer Aug. 9.
The assault took place about 8:54 p.m. as the eastbound train was nearing the Forest Park Metrolink platform, police said. The victim told police he was seated when the three men approached him from behind.
One of the men, who was 20 to 25 years old and wearing a red T-shirt, asked the victim if he could use his cellphone, and the victim said no.
The man then asked the victim 'what he thought about the Mike Brown situation.' The victim responded that he hadn’t thought much about it, according to the police report.
The man in the red shirt then punched the victim in the face and struck him multiple times, police said.
The victim was unsure if the other two men had joined in, but video surveillance of the incident confirmed that they had, police said. They are both described as black men between 18 and 22 years old age. Police did not give a further description."
"When one man sat down next to a second man in a St. Louis light rail car and asked him his opinion on the shooting of Michael Brown, it was not the beginning of a discussion.
It was the start of an assault, police said.
The second man, who was white, didn't want to answer the question. Then the first man, who was black, boxed him in the face. Two more African-American men joined in the beating, according to a police report about Monday's incident.
It was caught on surveillance cameras on the MetroLink train and a passenger recorded it with a cell phone and posted the video online. It has gone viral.
Police confirmed to CNN that the online images came from the attack."
---CNN, March 28, 2015
Germanwings Flight 9525 (Airbus A-320 Aircraft) Crashes in the French Alps
March 24, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Germanwings aircraft, stock photo
Above: USA Today map and graphic regarding the Germanwings crash in southern France, March 24, 2015
Above: AP maps regarding the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in southern France, March 24, 2015
"An Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed into a mountainside in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.
Germanwings confirmed its flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board.
One of the plane's black box recorders has been found at the crash site, about 100 km (65 miles) north of the Riviera city of Nice, and will be examined immediately, France's interior minister said.
In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack, while Lufthansa said it was working on the assumption that the tragedy had been an accident, adding that any other theory would be speculation."
---Reuters, March 24, 2015
Culture War: The Case of the Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum
March 24, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of anti-tax advocate Cody Phillips speaking in Daphne, Alabama against the proposed property tax increase for Baldwin County, Alabama, March 24, 2015
"With one week before Baldwin County voters decide whether to increase property taxes for the school system, the intensity level at the latest forum on the issue turned up a notch on Tuesday.
Sponsored by the tea party-affiliated Common Sense Campaign, the forum in Daphne was the latest in a flurry of campaign activity leading up to the referendum.
The arguments were not new, but emotions ran high, with the presentation had times degenerating into shouts between participants and some of the 60 or so audience crammed into a small room at the Daphne Public Library."
---AL.com, March 24, 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Averages Drops 292 Points, a Decline of 1.62%
March 25, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing a decline of 292 points on March 25, 2015, closing at 17,718
U.S. Census Bureau Estimates that the Population of Baldwin County, Alabama has Surpassed 200,000
March 26, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com undated photo of a Baldwin County Public Schools sign
Above: (Left to Right)Jefferson County (2014 population of 660,793), the most populous county in Alabama; Mobile County (2014 population of 415,123), the second most populous county in Alabama, Madison County (2014 population of 350,299), the third most populous county in Alabama; Montgomery County (2014 population of 226,189), the fourth most populous county in Alabama; Shelby County (2014 population of 206,655), the fifth most populous county in Alabama
Above: (Left to Right) Tuscaloosa County (2014 population of 202,212), the sixth most populous county in Alabama; Baldwin County (2014 population of 200,111), the seventh most populous county in Alabama; Lee County (2014 population of 154,255), the eighth most populous county in Alabama; Morgan County (2014 population of 119,607), the ninth most populous county in Alabama; Calhoun County (2014 population of 115,916), the tenth most populous county in Alabama
"Days before a referendum on a tax increase that school officials argue is necessary because of a flood of new people, the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday offered fresh evidence to confirm that growth.
Whether new taxes are necessary is a question that Baldwin voters will decide Tuesday. As to whether the growth is real, the latest census estimates make clear that it is. For the first time, Baldwin crossed the 200,000-resident threshold between mid-2013 and mid-2014, becoming just the seventh county in the state to reach that mark.
The latest estimate pegged the population at 200,111, on the verge of overtaking Tuscaloosa County for sixth-biggest in Alabama. That hardly comes as news to people who have followed the long-term trend."
"The latest population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau tell a story that has become familiar in Alabama over the past several decades - steady growth in urban counties and steep decline in rural parts of the state.
Aside from Pickens County - where a prison skewed the numbers - the three fastest-growing counties in the state from 2013 to 2014 were Baldwin (2.4 percent), Limestone (2.1 percent) and Lee (1.7 percent).
Shelby, Madison and Tuscaloosa counties also were in the top 10.
Those six counties also ranked among the state's top 10 in growth since the 2010 census."
"Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler on Friday asked the Attorney General's Office to launch a criminal investigation into the Baldwin County school system's use of taxpayer funds to promote next week's property tax referendum.
The school system has spent tens of thousands of dollars on consultants, campaign materials and other expenses related to persuading people to renew property taxes totaling 7 mills and approve new levies equaling 8 mills. The last figure provided by the school system is $156,989.
In a letter to Attorney General Luther Strange, Zeigler indicated that he was acting on behalf of four Baldwin County residents in requesting that prosecutors convene a grand jury to investigate the use of taxpayer funds. If Strange agrees, it could result misdemeanor charges punishable by a maximum of a year in jail upon conviction."
"State Auditor Jim Zeigler requested Friday an investigation into the Baldwin County Board of Education's use of taxpayer funds to promote an 8 mil property tax increase.
The school system has used $210,000 in the 'Build Baldwin Now' campaign.
Zeigler sent a letter to Attorney General Luther Strange Friday requesting a full criminal investigation. Zeigler said his office had received four complaints from Baldwin County citizens that the Board of Education is using taxpayer money to campaign.
The letter reads in part: 'My preliminary inquiry indicates that the allegations are true and are a clear violation of Code of Alabama Section 17-17-5(a). If true, the activities could constitute a Class A misdemeanor for each offense.'
The Baldwin County school system released a statement in response that states: 'The board has previously supplied the state auditor with relevant legal guidance from the Alabama Attorney General's office making it clear that the board is authorized to use public funds in a referendum election.'
The statement also says that the school system would gladly provide a full accounting of all election expenses if requested.
Baldwin County School officials say they are authorized to use public funds to promote the referendum based on a 2003 Attorney General's opinion."
----Fox10TV.com, March 28, 2015
Launch of Mission to the International Space Station, a Stay Scheduled to Last 342 Days
March 27, 2015 (Friday)
Above: AP photo of U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan prior to embarking to the International Space Station via a Russian Soyuz rocket and Soyuz orbiting vehicle, March 27, 2015; Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft akin to the vehicle that would carry the U.S. Astronaut and two Russian Cosmonauts to the International Space Station on March 27, 2015 (U.S. time)
Above: AP photos of Russian Soyuz FG Rocket lifting off Russian Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station, early hours, March 28, 2015, Kazakhstan time (March 27, 2015, U.S. Time)
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Orbital Module highlighted
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Descent Module highlighted
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Instrumentation/Propulsion Module highlighted
Above: The International Space Station; Mission Patch for the Soyuz TMA 16M component of the voyage
Above: Exploded view diagram of the International Space Station (ISS), circa 2011 (Source: Wikipedia)
Above: AP photos of U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly; Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko; Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka
"A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, sending a U.S.-Russia crew to the International Space Station for a year-long flight, a NASA Television broadcast showed.
The capsule holding NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, 51, and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, 54, and Gennady Padalka, 56, slipped into a docking port on the station’s Poisk module at 9:33 p.m. EDT/0133 GMT. The trio blasted off about six hours earlier. Kelly and Kornienko are slated to make the first year-long stay on the orbital outpost, double the current mission durations. Padalka, who is making his fifth flight, will return to Earth in September after racking up 878 days in space, setting a new record for the total amount of time anyone has spent in space."
"Two Russians and an American floated into the International Space Station on Saturday, beginning what is to be a year away from Earth for two of them.
Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly are to spend 342 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, about twice as long as a standard mission on the station. Russia's Gennady Padalka is beginning a six-month stay.
The three astronauts entered the station about eight hours after launching from Russia's manned space facility in Kazakhstan. They were embraced by American Terry Virts and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov who along with Italian Samantha Cristoforetti have been aboard since late November.
The trip is NASA's first attempt at a one-year spaceflight; four Russians have spent a year or more in space, all on the Soviet-built Mir space station.
The stay is aimed at measuring the effects of a prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body, a step toward possible missions to Mars or beyond.
Kelly's identical twin Mark, a retired astronaut, agreed to take part in many of the same medical experiments as his orbiting sibling to help scientists see how a body in space compares with its genetic double on Earth. They are 51.
Kelly and Kornienko, 54, will remain on board until next March. During that time, they will undergo extensive medical experiments, and prepare the station for the anticipated 2017 arrival of new U.S. commercial crew capsules. That means a series of spacewalks for Kelly, which will be his first.
The two men also will oversee the comings and goings of numerous cargo ships, as well as other Russian-launched space crews and an expected September visit from singer Sarah Brightman on a 'space tourist' trip.
Doctors are eager to learn what happens to Kelly and Kornienko once they surpass the usual six-month stay for space station residents."
---Associated Press, March 28, 2015
Chaos in Yemen
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photos of Shi'ite Houthi Rebels at the Sanaa International Airport in Yemen, Saturday, March 28, 2015
Above: AP photo of Saudi Arabia's King Salman speaking with Egypt's President, Saturday, March 28, 2015; Map of the Middle East with the nation of Yemen emphasized in bold type
"Saudi Arabia's navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from Yemen and the United Nations pulled out international staff on Saturday after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes trying to stem advances by Iranian-allied Houthi fighters.
Residents reported heavy clashes between the Houthis and mainly Sunni tribal fighters in the south of the country, while the Saudi-led air campaign sought to stall a fresh offensive by the Shi'ite Muslim group on Aden from the east.
Riyadh's intervention, a surprise move from a conservative monarchy better known for flexing its muscle in oil markets than through military might, is planned to last a month but could extend for five or six, a Gulf diplomatic source said."
---Reuters, March 28, 2015
Elite Eight: Wisconsin Knocks Off Arizona to Advance to the Final Four
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: Getty Images photo of Wisconsin vs. Arizona action in the Elite Eight round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 28, 2015
Sam Dekker hit five of Wisconsin's 10 3-pointers in the second half on his way to a second straight career high of 27 points, Frank Kaminsky added 29 points and the top-seeded Badgers beat No. 2 Arizona 85-78 on Saturday to reach consecutive Final Fours for the first time in school history."
---ESPN, March 28, 2015
Elite Eight: Kentucky Edges Notre Dame to Remain Perfect (38-0) and Advance to the Final Four
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: Getty Images photo of Kentucky vs. Notre Dame action in the Elite Eight round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 28, 2015
"Pushed to the brink, Kentucky's still perfect and still playing.
Andrew Harrison made two free throws with six seconds remaining, and the top-seeded Wildcats kept their unbeaten season and national title hopes intact with a 68-66 win over Notre Dame on Saturday night in the Midwest Regional final."
---ESPN, March 28, 2015
Arab Coalition Formed Against Shi'ite Rebels in Yemen
"A two-day Arab summit ended Sunday with a vow to defeat Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen and the formal unveiling of plans to form a joint Arab intervention force, setting the stage for a potentially dangerous clash between U.S.-allied Arab states and Tehran over influence in the region.
Arab leaders taking turns to address the gathering spoke repeatedly of the threat posed to the region's Arab identity by what they called moves by 'foreign' or 'outside parties' to stoke sectarian, ethnic or religious rivalries in Arab states — all thinly-veiled references to Iran, which has in recent years consolidated its hold in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and now Yemen.
The summit's final communique made similarly vague references, but the Arab League chief, Nabil Elaraby, was unequivocal during a news conference later, singling out Iran for what he said was its intervention 'in many nations.'
A summit resolution said the newly unveiled joint Arab defense force would be deployed at the request of any Arab nation facing a national security threat and that it would also be used to combat terrorist groups.
The agreement came as U.S. and other Western diplomats were pushing to meet a Tuesday deadline to reach a deal with Iran that would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions."
---Associated Press, March 29, 2015
Elite Eight: Michigan State Defeats Louisville in Overtime to Advance to the Final Four
March 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photo of Elite Eight action between Michigan State and Louisville, Sunday, March 29, 2015; AP photo of Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo talking to a Michigan State player during an Elite Eight game versus Louisville, Sunday, March 29, 2015
"Coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans capped an improbable run to the Final Four with an overtime win.
Senior guard Travis Trice scored 17 points and the seventh-seeded Spartans clamped down on defense to pull out a 76-70 victory over fourth-seeded Louisville in a thrilling NCAA tournament East Regional final Sunday.
The Spartans (27-11), who were nearly counted out of the tournament conversation in February, won for the 12th time in 15 games. It's a run that included them knocking off second-seeded Virginia last weekend and third-seeded Oklahoma in the regional semifinal Friday."
---ESPN, March 29, 2015
Elite Eight: Duke Defeats Gonzaga to Advance to the Final Four
March 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photo of Duke battling Gonzaga in an Elite Eight game, Sunday, March 29, 2015
"Mike Krzyzewski is living in the moment with his youngest team ever, not thinking too much about the significance of his latest trip to the NCAA Final Four.
With their trio of freshmen starting, the Duke Blue Devils are going to their 16th Final Four, and a record-tying 12th for Krzyzewski, after a 66-52 win over Gonzaga on Sunday to win the South Regional."
---ESPN, March 29, 2015
Controversy Swirls Regarding the 2015 Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum Campaign
March 30, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler holding a news conference in Loxley, Alabama, Monday, March 30, 2015
"The Alabama Attorney General's Office on Monday reaffirmed a decade-old opinion issued by the office blessing the use of public funds to promote school tax referendums."
"One by one, Baldwin County parents on Monday accused the school system of using intimidation to try to win a campaign for higher taxes.
Appearing at a news conference called by state Auditor Jim Zeigler, four parents said they believe the school system has exceeded its legal and moral authority. Baldwin voters have the final say Tuesday. The school system is asking for the renewal of 7 mills of property tax and new levies totally 8 mills. The money would finance a $350 million construction program to relieve overcrowded schools.
The parents speaking at the news conference supplemented Zeigler's call for an investigation by the Alabama Attorney General's Office into the use of public funds to support a 'yes' vote. The Attorney General's Office on Monday reiterated its opinion that the activity is legal."
"Iraqi forces battled Islamic State militants holed up in downtown Tikrit, going house to house Tuesday in search of snipers and booby traps, and the prime minister said security forces had reached the heart of the city.
In a statement on Twitter, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the 'liberation of Tikrit' and congratulated Iraqi security forces on their 'historic milestone.' But an official statement from his office said the troops 'hoisted the Iraqi flag' over the Salahuddin provincial headquarters in Tikrit and are moving to control the entire city.
Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the commander of the Salahuddin operation, said his forces fighting from the west were still 300 meters (325 yards) from the center of Tikrit.
Extremists from the Islamic State group seized Saddam Hussein's hometown last summer during its lightning advance across northern and western Iraq. The battle for Tikrit is seen as a key step toward eventually driving the militants out of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city that is farther north.
Street-by-street fighting raged into the afternoon, and estimates differed widely on how much of this strategic city on the banks of the Tigris River that Iraqi forces held. Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati said at least 75 percent of Tikrit had been recaptured. Ammar Hikmat, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said more than 40 percent was under Iraqi control."
---Associated Press, March 31, 2015
Baldwin County Property Tax Referendum: The Voters Definitively Reject an Increase in Property Taxes
March 31, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com undated photo of a Baldwin County Public Schools sign
"Forget replacing portable classrooms. Baldwin County school system officials come away from Tuesday's tax referendum in far worse shape than they were when the day began.
The school system had hoped to raise more than $28 million a year in new tax revenue to pay for a $350 million school construction program. Instead, voters resoundingly shot down a pair of ballot initiatives for new taxes, shot down an existing 1-mill tax and narrowly defeated a bid to renew a 3-mill property tax. That could cost the school system $14 million.
The defeat was deep and broad. Only one precinct, Spanish Fort Volunteer Fire Department, supported new taxes. That precinct narrowly supported a 3-mill increase (with 50.5 percent voting 'yes') and a 5-mill increase (with 50.7 percent voting in the affirmative).
The precincts were divided on three separate renewals. A large majority of the polling places opposed the renewals, but one of three managed to eke out small 'yes' vote on the strength of the most populous precincts."
"Baldwin County school officials are determined to stay positive in the wake of a resounding defeat Tuesday night after voters denied the school system new property taxes, and failed to renew some of those already dedicated to it.
The ballot contained a total of 7 mills of renewable taxes and 8 mills of new, representing as much as a $1 billion infusion into the school system over the next 30 years.
Citizens currently pay a 12-mill ad valorem tax, which would have gone to 20 had all five parts of the vote passed across the board. And now, the 12 will be reduced by at least 1, as a 1-mill renewal failed to pass with the required 60 percent majority.
One of the two renewable 3-mill taxes was too close to call at deadline.
If the overall vote had passed, planned construction over the next three years would have included new elementary schools in Bay Minette and Daphne, a new high school in Gulf Shores and numerous additions to schools throughout the county's seven feeder patterns, as well as the new one proposed in the Elberta area."
"The dust has settled and the outlook is grim for the Baldwin County School District one day after a historic vote that rejected a monumental tax increase to build new schools.
Tuesday night, voters headed to the polls and sent a resounding message to district leaders.
'No new taxes... in fact, we don't want the old ones either.'
In a shocking turn for the school district, voters emphatically rejected the two new tax increases on the ballot, even going as far to reject two of the three old tax renewals.
The last renewal, a three-mill county-wide school tax, is hanging in the balance. The vote was too close to call on Tuesday night, as it was separated by just 195 votes."
March 2015
Memorial March in Moscow, Russia Honoring Boris Nemtsov
March 1, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photos of a massive crowd marching near the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia--a march held in honor of assassination victim Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of a Boris Nemtsov portrait being held near Moscow's iconic St. Basil's Cathedral, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of a participant in the Moscow mass march holding a picture of Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of marchers, in the vicinity of Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral, holding flags and signs aloft during a march commemorating recently-assassinated Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of the mass march in Moscow held in remembrance of recently-assassinated Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of Moscow marchers commemorating recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; Reuters photo of massive crowd of marchers in Moscow, many holding signs and flags aloft, in tribute to Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of participants in the mass march in Moscow that was held as a tribute to the recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: AP photos of participants in the mass march in Moscow that was held as a tribute to the recently slain Russian political dissident Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Above: AP photo of the massive crowd marching in tribute to Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015; AP photo of flowers placed at the Boris Nemtsov assassination site in Moscow (St. Basil's Cathedral in the background), March 1, 2015
BBC: Thousands Take to the Streets of Moscow in Tribute to Recently Assassinated Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
Huffington Post: Photos from the Boris Nemtsov Memorial March
Reuters: Thousands March in Moscow in Tribute to Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
"Tens of thousands of Russians marched through central Moscow on Sunday, carrying banners declaring 'I am not afraid' and chanting 'Russia without Putin' in memory of murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.
Families, the old and young walked slowly, with many holding portraits of the opposition politician and former deputy prime minister who was shot dead while walking home from a nearby restaurant on Friday night.
The authorities have suggested the opposition itself may have been behind his shooting in an attempt to create a martyr and unite the fractured movement.
His supporters have blamed the authorities.
'If we can stop the campaign of hate that's being directed at the opposition, then we have a chance to change Russia. If not, then we face the prospect of mass civil conflict,' Gennady Gudkov, an opposition leader, told Reuters."
---Reuters, March 1, 2015
Associated Press: Thousands March in Moscow in Remembrance of Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
"Carrying flowers, portraits and signs that said 'I am not afraid,' thousands of Russians marched Sunday in Moscow to mourn opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose slaying on the streets of the capital has shaken Russia's beleaguered opposition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has marginalized and intimidated his political opponents, jailing some and driving others into exile, since mass anti-Putin protests swept Moscow in 2011 and 2012. Nemtsov, 55, was among the few prominent opposition figures who had refused to be cowed.
The mourners on Sunday marched to the bridge near the Kremlin where Nemtsov was gunned down shortly before midnight Friday. The mood was somber, with a heavy police presence.
Ilya Yashin, a friend and fellow opposition leader, said he hoped the killing would not frighten people.
'Essentially it is an act of terror. It is a political murder aimed at frightening the population, or the part of the population that supported Nemtsov and did not agree with the government,' Yashin told The Associated Press. 'I hope we won't get scared, that we will continue what Boris was doing.'
The march could energize the opposition, but it could also prove to be a brief expression of emotions that dissipates in a climate of fear."
---Associated Press, March 1, 2015
New York Times: Thousands March to Honor Assassination Victim Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015
"They carried carnations and roses in even-numbered bouquets, which is how Russians mourn. They held placards praising a fallen hero, and waved the Russian tricolor flag.
Tens of thousands of people from a wide range of political parties and movements turned out in central Moscow on Sunday to honor the opposition leader Boris Y. Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Friday near Red Square. Many of the mourners walked right past the Kremlin walls, holding signs saying 'I am not afraid.'
The crowd was roughly the size of some of the larger rallies held in the Russian capital three years ago during the 'white ribbon' protests, a movement that Mr. Nemtsov helped organize.
Since Vladimir V. Putin returned the presidency in 2012, though, the Russian opposition has fractured and faded, and the country has become absorbed in the conflict in Ukraine that broke out last year."
---New York Times, March 1, 2015
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Arrives in the United States
March 1, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu; Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner
iraqi Military and Shi'ite Militias Launch Offensive Against ISIS-Occupied Areas North of Baghdad
March 2, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Wikipedia map of Iraq; Associated Press map showing ISIS presence in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya, circa early 2015
Reuters: Iraqi Military and Shi'ite Militia Move Against ISIS, March 2, 2015
"Iraq's armed forces, backed by Shi'ite militia, attacked Islamic State strongholds north of Baghdad on Monday at the start of a campaign aimed at driving them out of the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin.
The offensive is the biggest military operation in the province since the Sunni Islamist radicals seized swaths of north Iraq last June and advanced towards the capital Baghdad.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the start of the Salahuddin operations on Sunday during a visit to the government-held city of Samarra, where some of the thousands of troops and Shi'ite militia had gathered for the offensive.
The pace of their progress in Salahuddin could affect plans to recapture Mosul further north. A U.S. official said the assault on Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control, could start as early as April but Iraqi officials have declined to confirm that timetable.
In Salahuddin, Islamic State fighters control several strongholds including Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein and other Tigris river towns.
A source at the local military command said forces advanced north from Samarra towards the town of al-Dour, which officials describe as an Islamic State bastion, and Tikrit, which lies about 40 km (25 miles) north of Samarra."
---Reuters, March 2, 2015
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Addressed AIPAC
March 2, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to AIPAC, March 2, 2015; AP photo of the stage to an AIPAC conference, March 2, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to an AIPAC conference, March 2, 2015
Above: Map of Israel; Map of Iran
Associated Press: Benjamin Netanyahu Addresses AIPAC, March 2, 2015
"Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Monday that his plans to address Congress are not aimed at disrespecting President Barack Obama, even as he assailed the U.S. leader's bid for a nuclear deal with Iran as a threat to his country's survival.
'I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them,' Netanyahu said during an address to a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington.
As Netanyahu spoke, Secretary of State John Kerry was opening a new round of talks with Iran in Geneva aimed at reaching a framework nuclear deal ahead of a late March deadline.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington has exposed deep tensions with the White House. The centerpiece of his trip is an address to Congress Tuesday that was arranged by Republicans without the knowledge of the Obama administration.
In a preview of his speech to lawmakers, Netanyahu suggested that Obama did not understand the depth of Israeli concerns about Iran's pursuit of a nuclear bomb."
---Associated Press, March 2, 2015
Reuters: Bibi Netanyahu Speaks at AIPAC Conference in Washington, D.C., March 2, 2015
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Monday that the nuclear deal it is negotiating with Iran could threaten Israel's survival and insisted he had a 'moral obligation' to speak up about deep differences with President Barack Obama on the issue.
In a preview of a planned address to Congress on Tuesday that has already imperiled U.S.-Israeli ties, Netanyahu voiced fears that talks between Iran and world powers would allow Tehran to become a nuclear-armed state and said this must not happen."
---Reuters, March 2, 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Closed at 18,288
March 2, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average Closing at 18,288 on March 2, 2015
U.S. Census Bureau Report on American Population Projections, 2014-2060
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: U.S. Census Bureau graphic showing U.S. minority population projections from 2014 to 2060
Above: William Frey, author of Diversity Explosion, graphic in Newsweek, December 6, 2014
Above: Southern Education Foundation map showing state-by-state percentages of U.S. public school students classified in 2013 as "low income"
Above:
Above:
Census.gov: Population Projections News Release, March 3, 2015
"Around the time the 2020 Census is conducted, more than half of the nation’s children are expected to be part of a minority race or ethnic group. This proportion is expected to continue to grow so that by 2060, just 36 percent of all children (people under age 18) will be single-race non-Hispanic white, compared with 52 percent today."
---U.S. Census Bureau, March 3, 2015
Resources on Recent U.S. Demographic Trends
Center for American Progress: 10 Major American Demographic Trends
"Rising diversity strongly interacts with generational change. Each succeeding generation has been, and will be, more diverse than the generations that came before it. Back in 1980, the two newest generations in the population, the Baby Boomers and the Gen Xers, were, respectively, 21 percent and 26 percent minority. Looking at the two newest generations today, the Millennials and the Post-Millennials, the corresponding figures are 44 percent and 49 percent minority. Looking ahead to 2040, the Post-Millennial 2 Generation is projected to be 57 percent minority. In 2060, the Post-Millennial 3 Generation should be 64 percent minority."
---Center for American Progress, February 24, 2015
Center for American Progress: State-by-State Projections in Terms of Diversity, 1980-2060
Politico: Demographic Change and Future American Elections
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Addressed a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu addressing a joint session of the United States Congress, March 3, 2015
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waving to his Congressional audience, Tuesday, March 3, 2015; AP photo of Prime Minister Netanyahu waving in the House chamber while Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, stand and applaud, Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Above: AP photo of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, listening to Netanyahu's address to Congress, Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2015; AP photo of President Barack Obama speaking to reporters shortly after Netanyahu completed his speech, Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Reuters: Bibi Netanyahu Speaks to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, March 3, 2015
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Tuesday that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a 'nuclear nightmare,' drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.-Israeli rift.
Delivering dueling messages within hours of each other, Netanyahu made his case against Obama's Iran diplomacy in a speech to Congress that aligned himself with the president's Republican foes. Obama responded in the Oval Office, declaring in a frustrated tone that Netanyahu offered 'nothing new.'
In its response, the Iranian government denounced Netanyahu's 39-minute speech as 'boring and repetitive,' the state news agency IRNA said.
In an appearance boycotted by dozens of Obama's fellow Democrats, Netanyahu said Iran's leadership was 'as radical as ever' and could not be trusted and the deal being worked out by the United States and other world powers would not block Iran's way to a bomb 'but paves its way to a bomb.'
'It will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them,' the Israeli leader said. 'We'll face a much more dangerous Iran, a Middle East littered with nuclear bombs and a countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare.'
His speech, a point-by-point critique of Obama's strategy, drew 26 standing ovations in the Republican-controlled chamber."
---Reuters, March 3, 2015
Associated Press: Benjamin Netanyahu Spoke to Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, March 3, 2015
"In a speech that stirred political controversy in two countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday that negotiations underway between Iran and the United States would 'all but guarantee' that Tehran gets nuclear weapons to the detriment of the entire world.
'And lots of them,' he added in an appearance before a packed House chamber that drew loud applause from Republicans and a more restrained reaction from Democrats.
'Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,' no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. 'The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons.'
Netanyahu spoke in English shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry met for more than two hours in Switzerland with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in hopes of completing an international framework agreement later this month to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The Israeli leader's appeal also came two weeks before tight elections in which he is seeking a new term — and after the invitation to address Congress extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, triggered a political furor in the United States. More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event, a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the two allies.
Many of Netanyahu's comments were greeted by loud applause from U.S. lawmakers, but not everyone was persuaded by his rhetoric."
---Associated Press, March 3, 2015
New York Times Editorial Board: Commentary on Netanyahu's Speech, March 3, 2015
"Mr. Netanyahu’s speech offered nothing of substance that was new, making it clear that this performance was all about proving his toughness on security issues ahead of the parliamentary election he faces on March 17. He offered no new insight on Iran and no new reasons to reject the agreement being negotiated with Iran by the United States and five other major powers to constrain Iran’s nuclear program.
His demand that Mr. Obama push for a better deal is hollow. He clearly doesn’t want negotiations and failed to suggest any reasonable alternative approach that could halt Iran’s nuclear efforts.
Moreover, he appeared to impose new conditions, insisting that international sanctions not be lifted as long as Iran continues its aggressive behavior, including hostility toward Israel and support for Hezbollah, which has called for Israel’s destruction."
---The Editorial Board of The New York Times, March 3, 2015
Former U.S. Army General and CIA Director David Petraeus to Plead Guilty to Misusing Classified Material
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: General David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his eventual mistress; AP photo of CIA Director Nominee General David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill on June 23, 2011
New York Times: Former General and CIA Director David Petraeus Reaches Plea Deal
"David H. Petraeus, the best-known military commander of his generation, has reached a plea deal with the Justice Department and admitted providing his highly classified journals to a mistress when he was the director of the C.I.A.
Mr. Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. He is eligible for up to one year in prison but prosecutors will recommend two years of probation and a $40,000 fine.
The plea deal completes a spectacular fall for Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who was once discussed as a possible candidate for vice president or even president. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the architect of a counterinsurgency strategy that at one time seemed a model for future warfare."
---New York Times, March 3, 2015
Associated Press: David Petraeus to Plead Guilty of Misusing Classified Documents
"Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose once-bright political future was all but destroyed over an affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to sharing classified material with her, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The plea agreement — which carries a possible sentence of up to a year in prison — represents a stunning fall for the retired four-star Army general who led American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and was perhaps the most admired military leader of his generation.
Petraeus, 62, agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of material. The case was filed in federal court in Charlotte, the hometown of Paula Broadwell, the general's biographer and former mistress.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors recommended two years of probation and no prison time. But the judge who hears the plea is not bound by that recommendation. No immediate date was set for Petraeus to enter the plea.
Prosecutors said that while Broadwell was writing her book, Petraeus gave her binders of classified material containing, among other information, his daily schedule and notes about his discussions with President Barack Obama."
---Associated Press, March 3, 2015
Slate.com: David Petraeus Takes a Plea Deal
"On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that General David Petraeus had accepted a remarkably lenient plea deal that will ensure the retired four-star general does not face a highly public and humiliating trial. Prosecutors allege that Petraeus, while serving as director of the C.I.A., illegally gave his mistress access to classified information. That mistress, of course, was Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer.
As part of the deal, Patraeus will plead guilty to a single count of 'unlawfully and knowingly' removing classified material and storing it at 'unauthorized' locations—a criminal charge which carries up to one year in jail time. Had his case gone to trial, Patraeus would have likely faced a harsher charge and a more stringent punishment. A federal judge will now decide whether Patraeus must go to prison or whether he can simply serve probation."
---Slate, March 3, 2015
The Daily Beast: David Petraeus's Mistress Got Access to Classified Material
House Speaker John Boehner Caves: The House of Representatives Passes a "Clean" Bill that Funds Homeland Securtity
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio; President Barack Obama; AP 2015 photo of a fence at the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Reuters: The House Passes Homeland Security Funding Bill, March 3, 2015
"The House of Representatives approved full fiscal-year funding for the U.S. domestic security agency on Tuesday, dealing a blow to conservative Republicans who had wanted the bill to include language blocking President Barack Obama's recent executive orders on immigration.
The House, in a 257-167 vote, backed a Senate-passed funding bill stripped of any immigration provisions, ending a bitter fight that raised new questions about House Speaker John Boehner's ability to manage fractious conservatives and brought the agency within hours of a partial shutdown last week.
Obama has said he will sign the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts. Spending authority for the department was scheduled to end at midnight on Friday.
After weeks of drama, Boehner was ultimately left with few - if any - viable procedural options to keep the agency open while also satisfying conservatives who wanted the funding bill to block Obama's executive actions last year lifting the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented residents.
Senate Democrats had repeatedly blocked a House-passed bill that included the immigration provisions, while Obama and Democrats backed a 'clean' funding bill passed by the Senate."
---Reuters, March 3, 2015
Associated Press: Speaker Boehner Allows Homeland Security Bill to Pass out of the House, March 3, 2015
"Bitterly admitting defeat, the Republican-controlled Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama on Tuesday that funds the Department of Homeland Security without any of the immigration-related concessions they demanded for months.
'Sanity is prevailing,' said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, before the House voted 257-167 in favor of the $40 billion spending bill, which Obama was expected to sign promptly. All 182 Democrats present voted for the bill, while it received only 75 Republican 'yes' votes."
---Associated Press, March 3, 2015
Massive Resistance and Culture War: The Alabama Supreme Court Orders a Halt to Same-Sex Marriage in the Heart of Dixie
March 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore; Map of Alabama with counties identified
Above: AL.com photo of Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis who, on February 12, 2015, was ordered by Federal Circuit Judge Callie Granade to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; Federal District Judge Callie Granade
Slate.com: Alabama's Supreme Court Loses its Mind
Reuters: Alabama Supreme Court Orders Probate Courts to Cease Issuing Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples, March 3, 2015
"The Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges in the state on Tuesday to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in a ruling in apparent defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 7-1 ruling comes about three weeks after U.S. District Judge Callie Granade overturned the socially conservative state's ban on gay marriage in a decision that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to put on hold."
---Reuters, March 3, 2015
AL.com: The Alabama Supreme Court Orders a Halt to Same-Sex Marriage, March 3, 2015
"Weeks after a United States District Court Judge in Mobile ordered a probate judge there to issue same-sex marriage licenses, the Alabama Supreme Court has ordered a halt to same-sex marriages in the state.
'As it has done for approximately two centuries, Alabama law allows for 'marriage' between only one man and one woman,' the order said. 'Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty.'
The order, called a writ of mandamus, had been requested by the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program last month."
---AL.com, March 3, 2015
Washington Post: Alabama Supreme Court Orders Halt to Further Licensing of Same-Sex Marriages, March 3, 2015
"The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state’s probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, a decision that flies in the face of numerous rulings by federal judges in Alabama and other states across the country who have said banning gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.
The all-Republican court sided with a pair of conservative organizations Tuesday in ruling that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t alter the judges’ duty to administer state law, which defines marriage as between only one man and one woman.
Six justices concurred in the 134-page opinion, which wasn’t signed, but the court’s most outspoken opponent of gay marriage, Chief Justice Roy Moore, recused himself.
Gay marriages began in some Alabama counties on Feb. 9 following a decision by U.S. District Judge Callie Granade of Mobile, who ruled that both Alabama’s constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional."
---Washington Post (AP), March 3, 2015
New York Times: Alabama's Supreme Court Orders a Halt to Further Same-Sex Marriages, March 3, 2015
Justice Department Issues Harsh Report on Ferguson, Missouri Police Behavior, but Declines to Prosecute Darren Wilson
March 4, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: United States Attorney General Eric Holder; President of the United States Barack Obama
Above: Michael Brown, 2014 photo; Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
Associated Press: No Federal Charges for Darren Wilson, but Police Department Condemned in Federal Report, March 4, 2015
"The Justice Department won't prosecute a former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old, but in a scathing report released Wednesday faulted the city and its law enforcement for racial bias and unconstitutional practices.
Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove former officer Darren Wilson's testimony that he feared for his safety, nor were there reliable witness accounts to establish that Michael Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was shot.
But they also said the shooting occurred in an environment of systemic mistreatment of blacks, where officials trade racist emails and jokes and where minorities are disproportionately stopped and searched, fined for petty offenses and subject to excessive police force.
'Now that our investigation has reached its conclusion, it is time for Ferguson's leaders to take immediate, wholesale and structural corrective action,' Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement announcing the findings.
The decision in the August 9 shooting had been expected, in part because of the high legal standard needed for a federal civil rights prosecution. Wilson, who has said Brown struck him in the face and reached for his gun during a tussle, also had been cleared by a Missouri grand jury in November and later resigned from the department."
---Associated Press, March 4, 2015
American Diversity: The New York City Public School System to Add Two Muslim Holidays to the School Calendar
March 4, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York Times: NYC Public Schools to Add Two Muslim Holidays to School Calendar, March 4, 2015
"Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that New York public schools will observe two of the most sacred Muslim holy days — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The changes to the school calendar, which already recognizes several Jewish and Christian holidays, fulfills a pledge Mr. de Blasio made during his campaign and represents the increasing influence of the city’s diverse Muslim community. The change will take effect in the 2015-16 academic year."
---New York Times, March 4, 2015
Harrison Ford Crashes Vintage Airplane
March 5, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: AP photo of Harrison Ford's vintage airplane, a plane he crashed on a California golf course on Thursday, March 5, 2015; AP graphic; AP photo of Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart at the 2014 Oscars ceremony
Associated Press: Actor Harrison Ford Crashes Vintage Airplane on Golf Course, March 5, 2015
"When a man battles Darth Vader, Nazis and other evil-doers for work, what does he do for fun? Harrison Ford's answer is found in a pilot's license and the freedom to take to the skies at will.
But with adventure comes risk, just as Han Solo, Indiana Jones and other daring movie characters brought to life by Ford realized. On Thursday, one of Hollywood's preeminent stars added a plane crash to an aviation record that includes both mishaps and public service.
Ford, 72, who as dashing archaeologist Jones battled Hitler's henchmen in the World War II-set 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' was flying a vintage plane of that era when it lost engine power shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica Municipal Airport.
The plane crash-landed on a golf course near the airport where Ford houses the craft."
---Associated Press, March 6, 2015
Monthly Jobs Report: The U.S. Economy Created 295,000 Jobs in February 2015
March 6, 2015 (Friday)
Above: CNN graph chronicling monthly U.S. jobs creation from February 2014 through February 2015; President Barack Obama
CNN: The U.S. Economy Created 295,000 Jobs in February 2015 as Unemployment Fell to 5.5%
Reuters: February Jobs Report Shows Creation of 295.000 U.S. Jobs Last Month
"U.S. employment accelerated in February and the jobless rate fell to a more than 6-1/2 year low of 5.5 percent, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 295,000 last month after rising 239,000 in January, the Labor Department said on Friday. The decline in the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent in January took it to its lowest level since May 2008
The data suggested the U.S job market continued to strengthen, although the drop in the jobless rate largely reflected people leaving the labor force. Average hourly earnings rose by three cents last month."
---Reuters, March 6, 2015
Dow Jones Industrial Average Roster Announcement: Apple to Replace AT&T on March 18, 2015
March 6, 2015 (Friday)
Above: Forbes photo of Tim Cook, Apple CEO
Reuters: Dow Announcement: Apple to Replace AT&T on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
"Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the largest U.S. company by market value, will join the storied Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, replacing AT&T Inc (T.N), in a change that reflects the dominant position of iPhone maker in the U.S. economy and society.
The decision to nudge aside AT&T, which has been part of the Dow for the better part of a century, is a recognition of the way in which communications and technology have evolved over the last several decades.
'This is a sign of the times, and it might get everyone to look at the Dow more than they have been,' said Richard Sichel, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.
'It would be difficult to pick any 30 companies that would cover the entire economy, especially compared with the S&P 500, but it does give the Dow more credibility.'
With a market capitalization of $736 billion, Apple is the largest publicly traded company in the index. The action, by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had been widely expected since Apple split its shares seven-for-one in June 2014."
---Reuters, March 6, 2015
Associated Press: Apple to Replace AT&T on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
"In the Dow's elite club, Apple is in and AT&T is out.
Apple will replace AT&T in the Dow Jones industrial average after the close of trading on Wednesday, March 18, the manager of the index announced early Friday. Apple will start trading as part of the 30-stock Dow at the opening of trading the next day.
THE REASON
S&P Dow Jones Indices, the index manager, said it's making the move in response to a planned stock split for Visa, another member of the 119-year old barometer of the stock market. After its four-to-one stock split, Visa will wind up with a lower price. S&P said that would reduce the weight of the information technology sector in the Dow, because Visa, a credit-card and payment-processing giant, counts as a tech stock. Adding Apple will help balance out this reduction.
THE IMPACT
S&P Dow Jones Indices said the decision won't alter the level of the index — which was near all-time highs of 17,960 early Friday. It is casting the move as a sort of a housekeeping maneuver, a way to ensure that this most famous of stock-market barometers better reflects the U.S. economy and markets."
---Associated Press, March 6, 2015
50th Anniversary of Selma's Bloody Sunday: President Obama at the Edmund Pettus Bridge
March 7, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photo of President Barack Obama, on the 50th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, speaking near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 2015; New York Times photo of President Obama, former President George W. Bush, and a host of other dignitaries march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: Reuters photos of President Barack Obama speaking in Selma, Alabama near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 2015
Above: Reuters photo of sunset as seen from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 6, 2015, the day prior to the 50th anniversary of the Selma, Alabama's Bloody Sunday
Above: Spider Martin photo entitled Two Minute Warning, an image showing Alabama law enforcement officers confronting civil rights marchers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 1965; AL.com photo of Alabama police attacking civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 1965
Above: AP photo of Alabama law enforcement officers beating civil rights marchers on "Bloody Sunday" near Selma, Alabama's Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 7, 1965; AP photo of clouds of police-fired tear gas being used to disperse civil rights marchers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 1965
Above: Wikipedia map of Alabama with Dallas County (Selma is the County Seat) highlighted in red; EncyclopediaOfAlabama.org image of Confederate General Edmund Pettus, a subsequent Ku Klux Klan leader and U.S. Senator representing Alabama; Wikipedia photo of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a structure spanning the Alabama River
Above: U.S. Representative John Lewis, D-Georgia; AL.com photo of Bloody Sunday marcher and incumbent Congressman John Lewis, D-Georgia, holding hands with President Obama and former President George W. Bush, Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of U.S. Congressman john Lewis, D-Georgia, and President Barack Obama, at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015; AL.com photo of President Obama speaking at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of President Barack Obama (center-left in white shirt) and First Lady Michelle Obama holding hands with Congressman John Lewis and leading a large group of dignitaries across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 2015; Photo of John Lewis--who suffered a serious head injury on Bloody Sunday---marching on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March 1965
Reuters: President Obama Spoke in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015
"With a nod to ongoing U.S. racial tension and attempts to limit voting rights, President Barack Obama declared the work of the Civil Rights Movement advanced but unfinished on Saturday on a visit to the Alabama bridge that spawned a landmark voting law.
Obama, the first black U.S. president, said discrimination revealed in a report about law enforcement practices in Ferguson, Missouri, this week showed a lot of work needed to be done on race in America, but he warned it was wrong to suggest that progress had not been made.
'Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer,' Obama said, standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police and state troopers beat and used tear gas against peaceful marchers who were advocating against racial discrimination at the voting booth.
The event became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and prompted a follow-up march led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. that spurred the 1965 Voting Rights Act."
---Reuters, March 7, 2015
Associated Press: President Obama Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Selma's Bloody Sunday, March 7, 2015
"America's racial history 'still casts its long shadow upon us,' President Barack Obama said Saturday as he stood in solidarity and remembrance with civil rights activists whose beatings by police a half-century ago galvanized much of the nation against racial oppression and hastened passage of historic voting rights for minorities. Tens of thousands of people joined to commemorate the 'Bloody Sunday' march of 1965 and take stock of the struggle for equality.
Under a bright sun, the first black U.S. president praised the figures of a civil rights era that he was too young to know but that helped him break the ultimate racial barrier in political history with his ascension to the highest office. He called them 'warriors of justice' who pushed America closer to a more perfect union.
'So much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher — met on this bridge,' Obama told the crowd before taking a symbolic walk across part of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the 1965 march erupted into police violence.
'It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills, a contest to determine the meaning of America,' Obama said. He was 3 years old at the time of the march.
A veteran of that clash, Rep. John Lewis, who was brought down by police truncheons that day in 1965 and suffered a skull fracture, exhorted the crowd to press on with the work of racial justice.
'Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America,' Lewis said. He was the youngest and is the last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement."
---Associated Press, March 7, 2015
New York Times: President Obama in Selma, March 7, 2015
"As a new generation struggles over race and power in America, President Obama and a host of political figures from both parties came here [Selma, Alabama] on Saturday, to the site of one of the most searing days of the civil rights era, to reflect on how far the country has come and how far it still has to go.
Fifty years after peaceful protesters trying to cross a bridge were beaten by police officers with billy clubs, shocking the nation and leading to passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, the nation’s first African-American president led a bipartisan, multiracial testimonial to the pioneers whose courage helped pave the way for his own election to the highest office of the land."
---New York Times, March 7, 2015
CNN: President Obama in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015 Text of Obama's Speech, March 7, 2015
PBS.org: Fifty Years After Bloody Sunday, President Obama Spoke in Selma, Alabama
AL.com: Selma Marcher John Lewis Tweets Iconic Images
NBC News: The City of Selma, Fifty Years Later Yahoo.com: 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma
New York Daily News: The Killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson Encyclopedia of Alabama: Jimmie Lee Jackson
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Edmund Pettus NYC Brooklyn Bridge Marchers Show Solidarity with Selma
The Atlantic: "Obama's America" The Atlantic: "From Selma to Black Power"
Time.com: Freedom's Children and Selma High School
Mass March Across the Edmund Pettus Bridge
March 8, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AL.com photo of a massive crowd of people walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on Sunday, March 8, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of a young child standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 8, 2015; Reuters photo of people walking on the Edmund Pettus Bridge (a structure spanning the Alabama River), March 8, 2015
Above: Wikipedia map of Alabama with the Coosa, Alabama, and Mobile Rivers highlighted; Wikipedia map of Alabama with Dallas County (Selma is the county seat) highlighted in red
Reuters: Mass March Across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 8, 2015
"Thousands of people began walking across a Selma, Alabama bridge on Sunday in a re-enactment of the 1965 'Bloody Sunday' march, part of a weekend of events marking the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the U.S. civil rights movement.
Some of those gathered in Selma also planned to set out Monday on a march to Montgomery along the route that Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers walked in the wake of Bloody Sunday, a march that helped spur the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, took its name from the beating that roughly 600 peaceful civil rights activists sustained at the hands of white state troopers and police who attacked them with batons and sprayed them with tear gas on the Edmund Pettus Bridge."
---Reuters, March 8, 2015
Associated Press: Mass March Across the Edmund Pettus Bridge as Commemoration Continues for Bloody Sunday's 50th Anniversary
"Thousands of people crowded an Alabama bridge on Sunday to commemorate a bloody confrontation 50 years ago between police and peaceful protesters that helped bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
A day after President Barack Obama had walked atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge, many jammed shoulder to shoulder, many unable to move, as they recalled the civil rights struggle.
Police said at least 15,000 to 20,000 people had joined the crush on and around the small bridge. Many came around the country for several events commemorating the landmark moment."
---Associated Press, March 8, 2015
University of Oklahoma Fraternity Shut Down Due to Racist Chants Caught on Video
March 8, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: ABC News photo of the University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house
CBS News: University of Oklahoma Fraternity in Trouble Over Racist Chants Caught on Video
"A University of Oklahoma fraternity is being closed and its members suspended by the group's national organization after a video surfaced and quickly went viral of what the national organization confirms is some of the OU chapter's members chanting racist slurs.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon said Sunday night that an investigation had confirmed the contents of a video showing multiple people chanting a racial slur against blacks and indicating that blacks would never be admitted to the fraternity. The chant also references lynching.
The national fraternity said in a statement that it was 'embarrassed' by the 'unacceptable and racist' behavior."
---CBS News, March 9, 2015
CNN: University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity in Trouble for Racist Chant
"A fraternity fraught with scandal quickly shut down a chapter in Oklahoma when a video surfaced that showed members singing a racist chant that used the n-word.
The video shows a group of young white students chanting the n-word loudly and boisterously while riding on a bus.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national chapter shut down the chapter Sunday night, suspended all of the chapter's members and threatened to remove those responsible from the fraternity for life."
---CNN, March 9, 2015
Forty-seven GOP Senators Send Letter Discouraging a Nuclear Deal Between Iran and the U.S.
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., author of the letter sent to Iran's leadership; George Cabot, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts who presided over the Hartford Convention of 1814-15, a gathering of Federalists opposed to the James Madison Administration, a gathering that considered New England secession from the United States
Reuters: GOP Senators Send Letter to Iran's Leadership
"Forty-seven Republican U.S. senators warned Iran's leaders on Monday that any nuclear deal with President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, an unusual partisan intervention in foreign policy that could undermine delicate international talks with Tehran.
The open letter was signed by all but seven of the Republicans in the Senate and none of Obama's fellow Democrats, who called it a 'stunt.' Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dismissed it as a 'propaganda ploy' from pressure groups he called afraid of diplomatic agreement.
In the letter, the senators said Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements. Noting Obama will leave office in January 2017, they said any deal not approved by Congress would be merely 'an executive agreement' that could be revoked by Congress.
The White House said the letter was a partisan effort to undermine Obama's foreign policy by lawmakers who oppose a deal even if the only alternative is military action."
---Reuters, March 10, 2015
Slate.com's Fred Kaplan: The Stupidity of the GOP Letter to Iran's Leadership
"It is a useful thing when a political party reveals itself as utterly unsuited for national leadership. This may be the one redeeming feature of Monday’s letter to the Iranian government signed by 47 (or, to put it another way, all but seven) Senate Republicans."
---Fred Kaplan, Slate, March 10, 2015
Washington Post Columnist Paul Waldman: Tom Cotton the Crackpot
"On paper, Cotton looks like a dream politician with nowhere to go but up — Iraq veteran, Harvard Law School graduate, the youngest senator at 37. It’s only when you listen to him talk and hear what he believes that you come to realize he’s a complete crackpot."
---Paul Waldman, Washington Post, March 11, 2015
Reuters Columnist Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman: The Letter to Iran from 47 GOP Senators was a Big Mistake
"What happens when senators and congressmen go around a controversial president to communicate directly with the enemy? They undermine the stability of their own party — and the integrity of the nation.
That’s what happened to the Federalists, the glorious political party of George Washington, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. Could the same thing happen to today’s Republican Party?"
---Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Reuters Columnist, March 11, 2015
The University of Oklahoma Reacts to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity's Racist Rant
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photos of student protesters at the University of Oklahoma, March 9, 2015
Above: AP photo of University of Oklahoma President David Boren speaking at a press conference, March 9, 2015; AP photo of workers removing Greek letters from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Oklahoma, March 9, 2015
Associated Press: The University of Oklahoma's Reaction to the Racist Rant by Members of SAE Fraternity, March 9, 2015
"The president of the University of Oklahoma severed the school's ties with a national fraternity on Monday and ordered that its on-campus house be shuttered after several members took part in a racist chant caught on video.
President David Boren said he was sickened and couldn't eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. The video, which was posted online, shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice on Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Meanwhile, a top high school recruit withdrew his commitment to the university after seeing the video.
Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted the fraternity members as 'disgraceful' and called their behavior 'reprehensible.' He said the university was looking into a range of punishment, including expulsion.
'This is not who we are,' Boren said at a midday news conference. 'I'd be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.'"
---Associated Press, March 9, 2015
CNN: What Comes Next in the University of Oklahoma Fraternity Racism Scandal?
Six Years After the Dow's Nadir in the Great Recession, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Closed at 17,995
March 9, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing a Dow Jones Industrial Average close of 17,995 on March 9, 2015, six years after the Dow closed at 6,547 on March 9, 2009
The University of Oklahoma Expels Two Students for Leading a Racist Chant at Fraternity Event
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: David Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma
Above: 2013 Dallas Morning News photo of Levi Pettit (then a student at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas ) who, on March 10, 2015 was expelled from the University of Oklahoma for his participation in the singing of a racist song during an Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity event; NBCDFW.com photo of Parker Rice, an SAE fraternity member who was expelled from the University of Oklahoma because of his participation in the singing of a racist song during an SAE event
Above: Highland Park High School crest, the high school in Dallas, Texas from which Levi Pettit graduated in 2013; Jesuit College Preparatory School seal, the school in Dallas, Texas from which Parker Rice graduated in 2014
CBS News: University of Oklahoma Expels Two Students from SAE Fraternity Implicated in Racist Chant Scandal, March 10, 2015
Associated Press: University of Oklahoma Expels Two SAE Fraternity Members Implicated in Racist Chant, March 10, 2015
"The University of Oklahoma's president expelled two students Tuesday after he said they were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event.
University President David Boren said in a statement the two students were dismissed for creating a 'hostile learning environment for others.' Their names were not released.
The video posted online shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Boren acted swiftly after the video surfaced late Sunday, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house shuttered Monday and announcing the expulsions Tuesday.
'I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realize that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people,' he said.
Boren said the university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face discipline.
Windows at the fraternity were boarded up and moving vans were parked outside Tuesday. Members have until midnight to remove their belongings. The Greek letters have already been removed from the side of the sprawling, sand-colored brick house on a street lined with fraternity and sorority houses just west of the center of campus."
---Associated Press, March 10, 2015
New York Times: University of Oklahoma Expels Two Members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, March 10, 2015
"Officials with the University of Oklahoma here on Tuesday expelled two students they had identified as playing a leading role in singing a racist chant on a bus over the weekend that has sparked outrage across the country.
The university’s president, David L. Boren, a former Oklahoma governor, expelled the two students but did not identify them, saying in a statement that they had 'created a hostile learning environment for others.'
Mr. Boren said the university was continuing its investigation of all the students involved in singing the chant, and that once the identities of other students had been confirmed, 'they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.'
The expulsion letter to the students states that the action takes effect immediately and that they can contact the university’s Equal Opportunity Officer to contest the decision."
---New York Times, March 10, 2015
Salon.com: Expelled OU Sigma Alpha Epsilon Frat Boy Issues Apology
Protesters Stage Demonstration Outside the Metro Dallas Home of One of the Expelled OU Students
2016 Presidential Election: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Addresses Email Controversy
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a press conference at the United Nations in New York City, March 10, 2015
Reuters: Hillary Clinton Addresses Email Controversy, March 10, 2015
"Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she should have used a government email account as U.S. secretary of state, though she said she violated no rules, in her first public remarks over a controversy that could cloud her expected bid for the White House.
Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, has come under fire for using a private email account for official business when she was the top U.S. diplomat because of concerns that she hid important facts about her tenure and put her correspondence at a security risk."
---Reuters, March 10, 2015
The Dow Loses 332 Points
March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 332 points on March 10, 2015, closing at 17,662
The War Against ISIS: Iraqi Forces Move Into Tikrit
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Associated Press photos (derived from video) of either Iraqi forces and/or Shi'ite militiamen battling ISIS forces in Tikrit, Iraq, March 11, 2015
Above: New York Times map of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
Associated Press: Iraqi Forces Move Into Tikrit, March 11, 2015
"Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen swept into the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, launching a two-front offensive to squeeze extremists out of Saddam Hussein's hometown in a major test of the troops' resolve.
Explosions and heavy gunfire echoed through Tikrit, a key way station for Iraqi forces trying to expel the militants who hold roughly a third of the country and neighboring Syria. The offensive also will serve as a major crucible for Iraqi forces, which collapsed under the extremists' initial offensive last year and now face street-by-street fighting in one of the Islamic State group's biggest strongholds.
Allied Iraqi forces first entered the city through its northern Qadisiyya neighborhood, according to video obtained by The Associated Press. Overhead, an attack helicopter fired missiles as soldiers and militiamen laid down heavy machine gunfire in the neighborhood's dusty streets as downtown Tikrit loomed in the distance, black smoke rising overhead.
Officials quickly established a supply line through the neighborhood to reinforce troops, Salahuddin police Brig. Kheyon Rasheed told the state-run Iraqiyya television. Authorities offered no immediate casualty figures, though Iran's state-run Press TV satellite channel reported that a mortar attack wounded one of its cameramen there.
A local official in Iraq's Salahuddin province confirmed that Iraqi troops entered Qadisiyya and raised the Iraqi flag over Tikrit's general hospital. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief journalists.
Later Wednesday, allied forces also swept into Tikrit from the south in a pincer movement to squeeze out militants, though some suggested many already fled in the face of the advance, codenamed 'At your service, prophet of Allah.'"
---Associated Press, March 11, 2015
New York Times: Iraqi Forces Win Territory in Tikrit; ISIS Hits Ramadi, March 11, 2015
"Militant fighters of the Islamic State mounted one of their fiercest assaults in months on Wednesday, setting off 21 car bombs in the city of Ramadi, even as the group lost ground in an Iraqi government offensive in Tikrit, security officials said.
Security forces fought Islamic State holdouts in two remaining neighborhoods on the west side of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, where militants massacred more than 1,000 Shiite Iraqi soldiers last year.
The city has been the focus of a weeklong assault by Iraqi forces, the largest operation against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, since it swept into control of much of the country last year. Iraqi government troops and their Shiite militia allies appeared to be close to recapturing the city on Wednesday and scoring a strategically and emotionally significant victory."
---New York Times, March 11, 2015
Embattled Ferguson, Missouri Police Chief Resigns
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters August 15, 2015 file photo of Ferguson, Missouri Police Chief Thomas Jackson; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Michael Brown
Reuters: Ferguson's Police Chief Resigns
"The police chief of Ferguson, Missouri, resigned on Wednesday, following a scathing U.S. Justice Department report that found widespread racially biased abuses in the city's police department and municipal court.
The resignation of Chief Thomas Jackson, which the city announced in a brief statement, is the latest in a string of departures since the Justice Department announced on March 4 that a months-long probe had uncovered a range of unlawful and unconstitutional practices.
Protesters had called for Jackson's removal since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. The killing triggered protests in cities around the country and drew national scrutiny to police use of deadly force, especially against black men.
Neither a grand jury proceeding nor the federal probe led to any charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown."
---Reuters, March 11, 2015
Protest in Dallas, Texas at the Home of Expelled University of Oklahoma Student, Parker Rice
March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: NBCDFW.com photo of Parker Rice; AP photo of the Reverend Dominique Alexander, leader of the Next Generation Action Network, speaking on March 11, 2015 in front of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, one of the members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Oklahoma expelled for singing a racist song during a fraternity event
Above: AP photos of protesters in front of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Above: AP photo of the Dallas, Texas home of Parker Rice, Wednesday, March 11, 2015; AP photo of the Dallas, Texas home of Levi Pettit, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Protest Planned at Home of Parker Rice, on of the Expelled SAE Frat Members at OU
NBCDFW.com: Protest at Expelled OU Student's Home, March 11, 2015
"About two dozen protesters marched Wednesday night outside the Dallas home of a former University of Oklahoma fraternity member who was shown in a video chanting a racial slur.
A Dallas-area advocacy group, the Next Generation Action Network, said the peaceful protest was planned at the family home of Parker Rice. Rice has apologized for participating in the chant, which also referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
The Rev. Dominique Alexander, who leads the Next Generation Action Network, said protesters wanted to send a message: 'We're not going to stand for that.'
Someone placed a small sign in front of the Rice home that reads 'Racism is Taught.'"
---NBCDFW.com, March 11, 2015
Dallas Morning News: Protest Held at Parker Rice's Dallas Home, March 11, 2015
"More than a dozen protesters marched outside the northwest Dallas home of a former University of Oklahoma student caught in a racist fraternity video, offering chants of their own against racism.
'Racism is taught,' the protesters shouted. 'Silence is consent.' 'Teach your kids another way. No modern-day KKK.'
The protest was initiated by the Next Generation Action Network, a Grand Prairie-based organization that has also protested the handling of a recent shooting of an unarmed man by a Grapevine police officer.
The group’s founder and president, Dominique Alexander, said he wanted 'to make a bold statement' about the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the video and those in it. His group called for a federal investigation of possible civil rights violations by the fraternity and called on Dallas residents to take acts of racism seriously."
---Dallas Morning News, March 12, 2015
Two Police Officers Shot in Ferguson, Missouri
March 12, 2015 ( Early Thursday)
Above: AP photos of police officers taking cover in Ferguson, Missouri, early Thursday, March 12, 2015
Above: Michael Brown; Former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
Reuters: Two Cops Shot in Ferguson, Missouri, Early March 12, 2015
"Two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, were shot early on Thursday in what officials called an ambush following months of acute tensions over relations between police and minority groups in the St. Louis suburb.
The officers were in serious condition at a local hospital, said St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, and a manhunt was under way for a suspect or suspects.
A 41-year-old officer from the St. Louis County Police was struck in the shoulder and a 32-year-old officer from the nearby Webster Groves Police Department had a bullet lodged near his ear after it passed through his cheek, Belmar said."
---Reuters, March 12, 2015
Associated Press: Two Police Officers Shot in Ferguson, Missouri, Early Thursday, March 12, 2015
"Two officers were shot in front of the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday while demonstrators were gathered across the street — an attack the county police chief described as 'an ambush' that could easily have killed both men.
The shots were fired just as a small crowd of protesters began to break up after holding a demonstration in the wake of the resignation of the Ferguson police chief, who stepped down Wednesday.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said one officer was shot in the face, just below his right eye, with the bullet lodging behind his ear. The other officer was hit in the shoulder, and the bullet came out his back.
Both men were expected to recover without suffering any long-term damage, Belmar said, but the wounds might have been mortal.
'We could have buried two police officers next week over this,' he said.
The 32-year-old officer who was shot in the face was from nearby Webster Groves. The second officer, 41, came from the St. Louis County force.
Both were taken to a hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious.
Authorities believe the shots came from a handgun fired about 120 yards away. There were no suspects in custody.
Based on where the officers were standing and the trajectory of the bullets, the shots appeared to be aimed directed at the police, Belmar said."
---Associated Press, March 12, 2015
Fraternities Racism Scandal: SAE Investigates Chapters at the University of Texas and Louisiana Tech
March 12, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: University of Texas seal; Louisiana Tech University seal
Associated Press: Investigations Expand Regarding Racism and Fraternities, March 12, 2015
"The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity said Thursday it was investigating racism allegations at universities in Louisiana and Texas after hearing that young men at two schools sang or knew of the same racist chant caught on video in Oklahoma last weekend.
Spokesman Brandon Weghorst said the chapter at the University of Texas at Austin was being 'fully cooperative' and that a probe at Louisiana Tech in Ruston was in its early stages. He said no new allegations had been substantiated.
A nine-second video recorded last weekend caught members of the fraternity's University of Oklahoma chapter singing a song that used a derogatory term for black people and referenced lynching. University president David Boren ordered the SAE house shuttered and expelled two students identified as ringleaders.
'We had no idea of this type of behavior was going on underground,' Weghorst said Thursday. 'If we don't know about it, we can't stop it.'
The board of trustees and alumni of the University of Oklahoma's SAE chapter released a statement Wednesday night acknowledging the chant surfaced at the chapter 'three to four years ago and was not immediately and totally stopped. It should have been.'
At the University of Texas in Austin, the president of the local SAE had previously issued a statement denying that his chapter had ever performed a similar chant. Luke Cone said he could 'speak on the behalf of my fraternity brothers that we are all profoundly distressed' about the language in the video.
The SAE chapter at Louisiana Tech did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday."
---Associated Press, March 12, 2015
The War Against ISIS: Possible Stall in Iraqi Attempt to Re-Take Tikrit from ISIS
March 13, 2015 (Friday)
Above: New York Times map of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
Reuters: Iraqi Offensive Perhaps Stalling in Tikrit, March 13, 2015
"The offensive to retake Tikrit appeared to stall on Friday, two days after Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.
A source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which Islamic State still holds around half.
Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the militants have turned the city into a labyrinth of home-made bombs and booby-trapped buildings, and are using snipers to halt their progress.
Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Shi'ite paramilitary Badr Organization and now one of the most powerful men in Iraq said the outcome of the battle for Tikrit was in no doubt, but Iraqi forces needed time."
---Reuters, March 13, 2015
The War Against ISIS: Iraqi Offensive in Tikrit Stalls for a Second Day
March 14, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: New York Times map of Iraq with the city of Tikrit highlighted
Reuters: Stand-Off in Tikrit, March 14, 2015
"Iraqi forces and mainly Shi'ite militiamen battling to wrest full control of the city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants paused their offensive for a second day on Saturday as they awaited reinforcements, a military source said.
More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite fighters entered Tikrit on Wednesday, having retaken areas to the north and south in Iraq's biggest offensive against the militants yet.
Islamic State fighters still hold about half the city and have booby-trapped buildings and laid improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs, the source in the local military command center told Reuters."
---Reuters, March 14, 2015
20-Year-Old Man Arrested in Ferguson Police Shootings
March 15, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: Associated Press map showing the shooting Ferguson, Missouri sites of Michael Brown (August 9, 2014) and the two police officers (March 12, 2015); AP copy of St. Louis County Police Department photo of Jeffrey Williams, age 20, Sunday, March 15, 2015
Associated Press: Suspect Apprehended in Ferguson Police Shootings
"A 20-year-old man charged Sunday with shooting two police officers watching over a demonstration outside the Ferguson Police Department had attended a protest there earlier that night but told investigators he wasn't targeting the officers, authorities said.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said suspect Jeffrey Williams told authorities he was firing at someone with whom he was in a dispute."
---Associated Press, March 15, 2015
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in east Jerusalem, Monday, March 16, 2015
Reuters: Bibi Netanyahu Vows No Palestinian State if Re-Elected, March 16, 2015
New York Times: Netanyahu Declares There will be No Establishment of a Palestinian State if He's Re-Elected, March 16, 2015
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that as long as he is the leader, a Palestinian state would not be established, reversing his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr. Netanyahu made the assertion on the eve of an election in which he is trailing in the polls. He has been campaigning aggressively, appealing to conservatives for support."
---New York Times, March 16, 2015
Associated Press: Bibi Netanyahu Promises No Palestinian State if Re-Elected, March 16, 2015
"Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state and vowed to strengthen construction in east Jerusalem settlements as he appealed to hard-line voters in a frenzied, final day of campaigning on the eve of national elections.
While Netanyahu's comments were election rhetoric, they nonetheless put him further at odds with the international community, boding poorly for already strained relations with the U.S. and other key allies if he wins a third consecutive term.
Netanyahu, who has governed for the past six years and has long been the most dominant personality in Israeli politics, has watched his standing plummet in recent weeks.
Recent opinion polls show his Likud Party lagging behind Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union. Herzog, a centrist who has vowed to revive peace efforts with the Palestinians, repair ties with the U.S. and reduce the growing gaps between rich and poor, confidently predicted an 'upheaval' was imminent.
Late Monday night, it was announced that Herzog's main partner, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, had given up an agreement to rotate the prime minister post with Herzog if their alliance wins.
Tuesday's election caps an acrimonious three-month campaign that is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu.
The hard-line leader has portrayed himself as the only politician capable of confronting Israel's numerous security challenges, while his opponents have focused on the country's high cost of living and presented Netanyahu as imperious and out of touch with the common man.
As Netanyahu's poll numbers have dropped in recent days, he has appeared increasingly desperate, stepping up his nationalistic rhetoric in a series of interviews to local media to appeal to his core base. Netanyahu has also complained of an international conspiracy to oust him, funded by wealthy foreigners who dislike him, and on Sunday night, he addressed an outdoor rally before tens of thousands of hard-line supporters in Tel Aviv."
---Associated Press, March 16, 2015
The Dow Gains 1.29%
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 228 points on March 16, 2015, closing at 17,977
NFL Linebacker Chris Borland Retires After Outstanding Rookie Season with the San Francisco 49ers
March 16, 2015 (Monday)
Above: San Francisco 49ers rookie linebacker Chris Borland celebrating a play against the New York Giants on November 16, 2014
Reuters: NFL Linebacker Chris Borland Quits Football After Successful Rookie Season at San Francisco, March 16, 2015
"San Francisco 49ers player Chris Borland, a leading rookie last season, is retiring from the NFL over health concerns related to repeated head trauma, ESPN and the team said on Monday."
---Reuters, March 17, 2015
ESPN: 49er Linebacker Chris Borland Quits Football, Citing Head injury Risk, March 16, 2015
"San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the NFL's top rookies this past season, told 'Outside the Lines' on Monday that he is retiring because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma.
Borland, 24, said he notified the 49ers on Friday. He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, as well as studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease."
---ESPN, March 17, 2015
Associated Press: San Francisco 49ers Linebacker Chris Borland Quits Football After Completing Strong Rookie Season, March 16, 2015
"Wary of head trauma, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland is leaving football. And not even the promise of NFL stardom and piles of money could change his mind.
So now, after one stellar rookie season, he is retiring at age 24.
The 49ers announced his decision Monday night, without offering specifics. But Borland told ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' earlier in the day he wants to do 'what's best for my health.'
Borland had a team-leading 108 tackles as a rookie, emerging as a punishing defender. He also had a sack and two interceptions.
'From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk,' Borland said in the interview. 'I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been. For me, it's wanting to be proactive. I'm concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it's too late.'"
---Associated Press, March 17, 2015
Washington Post: Will Concern over Brain Injuries Kill the NFL?
"The news Monday night was shocking, even at a time in which the NFL has had one shocking headline after another. Chris Borland is quitting one of the most coveted jobs in America, retiring as a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers at 24 because he’s concerned about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma. Now, just weeks before a new crop of college kids are drafted into the league, the NFL finds its offseason dominated by stories about young players who are quitting.
Borland becomes the fourth player at the age of 30 or younger to retire in just the last week, joining Patrick Willis, another 49ers linebacker who quit six days earlier because of pain in his feet. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds is quitting at 27 to do religious work and Jake Locker, a Tennessee Titans quarterback who was an NFL bust, says he 'has no burning desire to play.'"
---Cindy Boren, Washington Post, March 17, 2015
Washington Post: Whither Goes Football?
"Football is on trial, and the evidence against it is mounting. The speed with which America’s favorite game has gone from celebrated to excoriated is breathtaking. Just as stunning, no one seems to have a solution to reverse the trend.
Where is the perfect helmet, the rule changes or the unexpected Solution X that heals the sport now that its essential nature is known?"
---Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, March 17, 2015
Sports Illustrated: Chris Borland's Retirement at 24
The Nation's Dave Zirin: Chris Borland and History
"That in a nutshell is the far more serious existential problem the NFL faces. It's not that there won't be people 'literally begging' to play the game. It's that college athletes like Chris Borland who don't come from dire poverty will in greater and greater numbers choose to do something else with their minds and bodies. Many NFL players began their lives in destitute situations defined by hardship, but many others come to the league from stable, middle class backgrounds as well. That middle class player, especially those like Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick who played multiple sports, will become scarce. Meanwhile as ticket prices rise, we are facing a sport ready to go 'full gladiator' as poor people, disproportionately black, damage each other’s brains for wealthy, disproportionately white crowds. For an NFL that likes to paint itself as synonymous with America and apple pie, this has the potential to just be an awful commercial look. It could become a disturbing revealed truth about where this country is headed. In history class, Chris Borland probably studied Rome. That didn't end well. But he also surely learned that history could be altered through conscious acts of resistance against the way things ought to be. Mr. Borland gave us such an act this week. His career may by over. But I’d bet a great deal we will hear his name again."
---Dave Zirin, The Nation, March 18, 2015
Republican U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock Announces Resignation
March 17, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: U.S. Representative Aaron Schock, R-Illinois
Associated Press: Representative Aaron Schock, R-Illinois, Announces Resignation from Congress, March 17, 2015
"Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock abruptly resigned Tuesday following a monthlong cascade of revelations about his business deals and lavish spending on everything from overseas travel to office decor in the style of 'Downton Abbey.'"
---Associated Press, March 17, 2015
Parliamentary Elections in Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party Wins
March 17, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Reuters photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing before Likud Party Supporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 18, 2015 (Israeli time)
Reuters: In a Close Election, Netanyahu Claims to Have the Victory, March 17, 2015
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift in which he abandoned a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
Difficult coalition talks still lie ahead. Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's chief opponent and head of the center-left Zionist Union, said 'everything is still open' and that he already had spoken to party leaders about forming a government.
But after days in which Zionist Union appeared poised to defeat Netanyahu's Likud, the exit polls late on Tuesday put the two parties in a dead heat. Netanyahu could have the easier path to forming a cabinet, which would put him on course to becoming Israel's longest serving leader.
He pulled off the feat with a pitch for ultranationalist votes in the final days of the hard-fought campaign, using tactics that could deepen a feud with the White House, at least as long as President Barack Obama remains in office."
---Reuters, March 17, 2015
Reuters: Netanyahu Wins
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a come-from-behind victory in Israel's election after tacking hard to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
In a pre-election blitz, Netanyahu made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties. He pledged to go on building settlements on occupied land and said there would be no Palestinian state if he was re-elected.
With 99.5 percent of votes counted on Wednesday, Likud had won 29-30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, comfortably defeating the center-left Zionist Union opposition on 24 seats, Israel's Central Election Committee and Israeli media said. A united list of Arab parties came in third."
---Reuters, March 18, 2015
Associated Press: Israel Perhaps Headed for Alienation with Netanyahu Victory
"Benjamin Netanyahu's apparent reelection puts Israel on a course toward ever deeper confrontation with the world. To govern, his Likud Party would need to depend on ultranationalists — a recipe for neither stability nor bold moves toward Mideast peace.
A period of some horsetrading looms. With Likud as well as rightist and religious allies, Netanyahu still only commands 57 out of 120 parliament seats. He must woo Moshe Kahlon, a relative newcomer to the big leagues of Israeli politics. Breaking away from Netanyahu's nationalist Likud two years ago after a falling out with the premier, he adopted a vaguely centrist platform and flirted with Isaac Herzog's more moderate Zionist Union. If he is non-aligned as he claims, then he holds the balance of power between Israel's traditional right and left blocs, each with just under half of parliament.
It is widely thought that it would be too awkward for the former Likud figure to crown the opposition unless Herzog's party enjoyed a cushion of several seats over Likud. Polls had suggested that would happen, but the actual vote count on Wednesday showed the opposite: Likud was ahead by 30-24 seats.
If Kahlon does go with Netanyahu, it would give the hard-liner a fourth term that, if completed, would make him Israel's longest-serving leader, on par with the nation's founder David Ben Gurion.
That would not bode well for prospects of peace with the Palestinians or a rapprochement between Israel and the region, which seems tantalizingly close in an era in which many of the neighboring Arab nations fear jihadi extremism far more than they oppose Israel."
---Associated Press, March 18, 2015
Terrorist Attack in Tunisia
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: AP Map of Tunisia regarding the terrorist attack on the National Bardo Museum
Reuters: Terrorist Attack in Tunisia, March 18, 2015
"Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum on Wednesday, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that had largely escaped the region's 'Arab Spring' turmoil.
Five Japanese as well as visitors from Italy, Poland and Spainwere among the dead in the noon assault on Bardo museum inside the heavily guarded parliament compound in central Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said."
---Reuters, March 18, 2015
Associated Press: Terrorist Attack in Tunisia, March 18, 2015
"Foreign tourists scrambled in panic Wednesday after militants stormed a museum in Tunisia's capital and killed 19 people, 'shooting at anything that moved,' a witness said.
Two gunmen were slain by security forces following the deadliest attack on civilians in the North African country in 13 years, and the president said the young democracy was embroiled in a war with terror.
The militants, who wore military-style uniforms and wielded assault rifles, burst from a vehicle and began gunning down tourists climbing out of buses at the National Bardo Museum. The attackers then charged inside to take hostages before being killed in a firefight with security forces.
Authorities launched a manhunt for two or three accomplices in the attack. Prime Minister Habib Essid said the two Tunisian gunmen killed 17 tourists — five from Japan, four from Italy, two from Colombia, two from Spain, and one each from Australia, Poland and France. The nationality of one dead foreigner was not released. Essid said two Tunisian nationals also were killed by the militants.
At least 44 people were wounded, including tourists from Italy, France, Japan, South Africa, Poland, Belgium and Russia, according to Essid and doctors from Tunis' Charles Nicolle."
---Associated Press, March 18, 2015
Culture War: The 2015 Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; Karl Marx (1818-1883), author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital
AL.com: The Spectre of Communism Haunting Baldwin County, Alabama
"Richard Thompson is no stranger to attending Baldwin County Commission meetings and stirring up a bit of controversy.
Lately, he's shown up wearing sunglasses - he has said it's for a medical reason - and has spoken in opposition to a variety of county-related issues. He's a developer from Fairhope who has often been a frequent critic of the county's land use policies.
Last month, he suggested the county rid itself of any public process before approving small subdivisions. That request was not acted upon.
But on Wednesday, Thompson took his criticism of Baldwin-related issues to another level when he distributed a single sheet of paper with the words of the world's most well-known communist - Karl Marx.
'No need to respond,' Thompson said.
He distributed the '10 Planks of Communism' written by Karl Marx within 'Communist Manifesto' published in 1848 as one of the steps necessary toward destroying a free enterprise system and replacing it with a communist socialist state.
The 10th plank? 'Free education for all children in government schools.'"
---AL.com, March 18, 2015
The Dow Closes Above 18,000
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing a Dow Jones Industrial Average close at 18,076 on March 18, 2015; AT&T logo (The company had its last day as one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average)
Apple Joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Replacing AT&T
March 19, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: The 3M Company; American Express; Apple Incorporated
Above: The Boeing Company; Caterpillar; Chevron
Above: Cisco Systems; The Coca-Cola Company; The Walt Disney Company
Above: DuPont; ExxonMobil; General Electric
Above: Goldman Sachs; The Home Depot; International Business Machines (IBM)
Above: Intel; Johnson & Johnson; J.P. Morgan Chase & Company
Above: McDonald's; Merck; Microsoft
Above: Nike; Pfizer; Procter and Gamble
Above: The Travelers Group; United Technologies; UnitedHealth Group
Above: Verizon Communications; Visa Incorporated; Wal-Mart Stores
CNN: The 30 Companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Declines 117 points
March 19, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 17,959 on March 19, 2015
Suicide Bombings in Two Mosques in Sanaa, Yemen Kill Over 120 People
March 20, 2015 (Friday)
Above: Map of the Middle East region with the nation of Yemen emphasized in bold type
Reuters: Terrorist Attack at Mosque in Yemen, March 20, 2015
"Suicide bombers in the Yemeni capital Sanaa blew themselves up during Friday prayers at two mosques used by supporters of Shi'ite rebels, killing 126 people and wounding 260, medical sources said, in the country's deadliest militant attack in years.
Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attacks, in which four bombers wearing explosive belts targeted worshippers in and outside the crowded mosques."
---Reuters, March 20, 2015
New York Times: Suicide Bombings at Yemeni Mosques Kill Over 100, March 20, 2015
"In the deadliest attack on civilians in Yemen in recent memory, more than 100 people were killed on Friday when suicide bombers attacked two Zaydi Shiite mosques in the capital, Sana, during weekly prayers. A group claiming to be the Yemeni division of the Islamic State militant group said it was responsible for the attack, raising fears of a growing shift toward sectarian violence in the country’s civil conflict.
Hospitals in the capital made urgent appeals for blood to treat the hundreds of people injured in the explosions at the Badr and Hashoush mosques, which were apparently coordinated. Another suicide bomber was detected before he could reach a mosque in the northern province of Saada, a stronghold of the Houthi rebel movement, which controls Sana and since September has been Yemen’s most dominant force."
---New York Times, March 20, 2015
The Dow Gained 168 Points
March 20, 2015 (Friday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 18,127 on March 20, 2015
NCAA Men's Basketball: Kentucky Defeats Cincinnati to Remain Undefeated and Advance to the Sweet Sixteen
March 21, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photo of a Kentucky player driving against a Cincinnati defender in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 21, 2015
ESPN: Kentucky Goes to 36-0 in Defeating Cincinnati in the NCAA Tourney
"Aaron Harrison scored 13 points, Trey Lyles added 11 with 11 rebounds and top-ranked Kentucky outworked eighth-seeded Cincinnati for a 64-51 victory Saturday to remain undefeated and reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight season."
---ESPN, March 21, 2015
Sports Illustrated: Kentucky Stays Perfect, Defeating Cincinnati in the Men's NCAA Tournament
Shi'ite Rebels Seize Yemeni City
March 22, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: Map of the Middle East with the nation of Yemen highlighted in bold type
Associated Press: Unrest in Yemen, March 22, 2015
"Shiite rebels backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh seized Yemen's third largest city of Taiz and its airport on Sunday, security and military officials said, as thousands took to the streets in protest.
One person was killed and four wounded when the rebels, known as Houthis, fired on the crowd, security officials said. A few dozen were choked by tear gas.
If the rebels hold onto the city, the capital of Yemen's most populous province, it would be a major blow to embattled current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who established a base in the southern city of Aden just 140 kilometers (85 miles) away after fleeing the rebel-held capital last month.
The seizure comes a day after the rebels called for a general mobilization against forces loyal to Hadi, after he gave a defiant speech challenging the Houthis in his first public address since leaving Sanaa."
---Associated Press, March 22, 2015
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Announces his Candidacy for President of the United States
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: AP photo of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, March 23, 2015
Associated Press: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Announces his Presidential Candidacy, March 23, 2015
"Sen. Ted Cruz opened the first major campaign of the 2016 presidential season Monday with a kickoff speech courting cultural conservatives and declaring that he will devote himself to 'reigniting the promise of America.'
One of several Republican hopefuls to rise from the tea party movement, Cruz spoke at Liberty University, the college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, hours after a wee-hours tweet announcing his White House bid. The choice of the college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell was meant as marker against potential rivals who are also counting on Christian conservatives to fuel their candidacies.
Cruz addressed his religious faith, his father's Cuban roots and his unquestioned conservative credentials, saying 'for so many Americans the promise of America seems more and more distant.'
And he asked the enthusiastic crowd to 'imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders.'
'Imagine a simple flat tax,' he said. 'Imagine abolishing the IRS.'
He spoke on the fifth anniversary of President Barack Obama's health care law — legislation that prompted Cruz to stand for more than 21 hours in the Senate to denounce it in a marathon speech that delighted his tea party constituency and other foes of the law.
Cheers rose in the hall when Cruz reminded the crowd Monday that Liberty University filed a suit against the law right after its enactment.
'God's blessing has been on America from the very beginning of this nation and I believe that God isn't done with Americans,' Cruz said. 'I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America. And that is that is why, today, I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States of America.'"
---Associated Press, March 23, 2015
Culture War: The Debate Over the Proposed Property Tax Increase in Baldwin County, Alabama
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of Baldwin County Board of Education Member Cecil Christenberry speaking to a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting (Spanish Fort, Alabama) in support of the proposed Baldwin County property tax increase, March 23, 2015
Above: AL.com photo of a "Vote No" anti-tax sign posted at the Spanish Fort, Alabama Wintzell's Restaurant during a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting, Monday, March 23, 2015; AL.com photo of anti-tax speaker John Howard speaking to a Baldwin County Young Republicans meeting at Wintzell's Restaurant in Spanish Fort, Alabama, Monday, March 23, 2015
AL.com: Debate in Baldwin County, Alabama Over a Proposed Property Tax Increase, March 23, 2015
"The battle of financial figures continued to fester between both sides of the hotly contested school tax referendum in Baldwin County.
For opponents, the issue comes down to whether the county's school system is asking for too much money - 8 mills increase in property taxes - from voters on March 31.
The additional tax, if endorsed by voters, will add $350 million into the school system over the next 10 years for a comprehensive, school-supported expansion project.
Proponents say the increase is necessary to address and overcrowding of the county's schools system with about 100 portable classrooms that will only grow if the school construction plan doesn't move forward.
Both sides disputed each others numbers with claims that the other side is misleading the public, including senior citizens.
The dispute also underscored what has become a divisive referendum for Baldwin County where, in many cases, it's not uncommon to see neighborhoods mixed with orange 'Build Baldwin Now' signs and yellow 'Vote No 'New Taxes.'"
---AL.com, March 23, 2015
AL.com: Culture War and the Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum, March 23, 2015
"Alabama's dispute over same-sex marriage surfaced Monday during a forum over a hotly contested property tax referendum for the Baldwin County School System.
John Howard, a private school teacher and tax opponent, linked 'gay marriage' to the tax issue as an example of unknown influences the federal government might pass along to public schools.
He made his remarks as a representative of the opposition during a forum that drew approximately 100 people at Wintzell's Oyster House in Spanish Fort.
'You talk about praying (in classrooms) but teachers cannot stand up in school and do that and I'm concerned as to where we are headed,' Howard said. 'Let's say the Supreme Court says gay marriage is fine ...'
The comment sparked immediate groans from a crowd of tax proponents with the 'Build Baldwin Now' organization who felt it veered off topic.
'Do you not think for a moment that it isn't coming down the pike for public education as well?' Howard continued. 'Let's not be naïve. Local public schools are going to be influenced by what's coming down the pike from the federal government.'
Howard later said he felt he didn't know if it was wise to bring the same-sex marriage issue up, but acknowledged that the one of the state's most impassionate social issues has relevance in the county's school tax discussion.
'If we think 30 years down the road, things have changed so much,' Howard said, referring to the 30-year time frame in which the proposed 8 mill tax increase, if approved by voters, will last. 'There are issues in Washington (that will affect local schools in years to come).'"
---AL.com, March 23, 2015
Racial Conflict in St. Louis, Missouri: An Assault in a MetroLink Train
March 23, 2015 (Monday)
Above: St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo taken via video from MetroLink Train, an image showing young adult male identified as assailant who beat a passenger on the train, Monday, March 23, 2015 photo; St. Louis Post-Dispatch screen-grab from a social media site, an image showing a young adult male beating an adult passenger (a white man) on a St. Louis MetroLink Train on March 23, 2015
Above: Michael Brown; Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson
StLToday.com: Man Beaten on St. Louis MetroLink Train, Michael Brown Cited, March 23, 2015
"A 43-year-old man who was riding a MetroLink train Monday night was attacked by several men after one of them asked him about the Michael Brown 'situation,' police said.
A video posted to Facebook appears to show the attack, and MetroLink released surveillance images of suspects.
Police said the victim, who is white, was punched and kicked by three black men, one of whom had made the reference to the teen killed in Ferguson by a police officer Aug. 9.
The assault took place about 8:54 p.m. as the eastbound train was nearing the Forest Park Metrolink platform, police said. The victim told police he was seated when the three men approached him from behind.
One of the men, who was 20 to 25 years old and wearing a red T-shirt, asked the victim if he could use his cellphone, and the victim said no.
The man then asked the victim 'what he thought about the Mike Brown situation.' The victim responded that he hadn’t thought much about it, according to the police report.
The man in the red shirt then punched the victim in the face and struck him multiple times, police said.
The victim was unsure if the other two men had joined in, but video surveillance of the incident confirmed that they had, police said. They are both described as black men between 18 and 22 years old age. Police did not give a further description."
---St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 28, 2015
CNN: Man Beaten on St. Louis MetroLink Train, March 23, 2015
"When one man sat down next to a second man in a St. Louis light rail car and asked him his opinion on the shooting of Michael Brown, it was not the beginning of a discussion.
It was the start of an assault, police said.
The second man, who was white, didn't want to answer the question. Then the first man, who was black, boxed him in the face. Two more African-American men joined in the beating, according to a police report about Monday's incident.
It was caught on surveillance cameras on the MetroLink train and a passenger recorded it with a cell phone and posted the video online. It has gone viral.
Police confirmed to CNN that the online images came from the attack."
---CNN, March 28, 2015
Germanwings Flight 9525 (Airbus A-320 Aircraft) Crashes in the French Alps
March 24, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Germanwings aircraft, stock photo
Above: USA Today map and graphic regarding the Germanwings crash in southern France, March 24, 2015
Above: AP maps regarding the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in southern France, March 24, 2015
Reuters: Germanwings Airbus Aircraft Crashes in the French Alps, March 24, 2015
"An Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed into a mountainside in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.
Germanwings confirmed its flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board.
One of the plane's black box recorders has been found at the crash site, about 100 km (65 miles) north of the Riviera city of Nice, and will be examined immediately, France's interior minister said.
In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack, while Lufthansa said it was working on the assumption that the tragedy had been an accident, adding that any other theory would be speculation."
---Reuters, March 24, 2015
Culture War: The Case of the Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum
March 24, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of anti-tax advocate Cody Phillips speaking in Daphne, Alabama against the proposed property tax increase for Baldwin County, Alabama, March 24, 2015
AL.com: Debate Regarding the Baldwin County Property Tax Referendum, March 24, 2015
"With one week before Baldwin County voters decide whether to increase property taxes for the school system, the intensity level at the latest forum on the issue turned up a notch on Tuesday.
Sponsored by the tea party-affiliated Common Sense Campaign, the forum in Daphne was the latest in a flurry of campaign activity leading up to the referendum.
The arguments were not new, but emotions ran high, with the presentation had times degenerating into shouts between participants and some of the 60 or so audience crammed into a small room at the Daphne Public Library."
---AL.com, March 24, 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Averages Drops 292 Points, a Decline of 1.62%
March 25, 2015 (Wednesday)
Above: Reuters chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing a decline of 292 points on March 25, 2015, closing at 17,718
U.S. Census Bureau Estimates that the Population of Baldwin County, Alabama has Surpassed 200,000
March 26, 2015 (Thursday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com undated photo of a Baldwin County Public Schools sign
Above: (Left to Right) Jefferson County (2014 population of 660,793), the most populous county in Alabama; Mobile County (2014 population of 415,123), the second most populous county in Alabama, Madison County (2014 population of 350,299), the third most populous county in Alabama; Montgomery County (2014 population of 226,189), the fourth most populous county in Alabama; Shelby County (2014 population of 206,655), the fifth most populous county in Alabama
Above: (Left to Right) Tuscaloosa County (2014 population of 202,212), the sixth most populous county in Alabama; Baldwin County (2014 population of 200,111), the seventh most populous county in Alabama; Lee County (2014 population of 154,255), the eighth most populous county in Alabama; Morgan County (2014 population of 119,607), the ninth most populous county in Alabama; Calhoun County (2014 population of 115,916), the tenth most populous county in Alabama
AL.com: Baldwin County, Alabama Surpasses the 200,000 Population Milestone
"Days before a referendum on a tax increase that school officials argue is necessary because of a flood of new people, the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday offered fresh evidence to confirm that growth.
Whether new taxes are necessary is a question that Baldwin voters will decide Tuesday. As to whether the growth is real, the latest census estimates make clear that it is. For the first time, Baldwin crossed the 200,000-resident threshold between mid-2013 and mid-2014, becoming just the seventh county in the state to reach that mark.
The latest estimate pegged the population at 200,111, on the verge of overtaking Tuscaloosa County for sixth-biggest in Alabama. That hardly comes as news to people who have followed the long-term trend."
---AL.com, March 26, 2015
Baldwin County Leads Growth in Alabama Counties
"The latest population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau tell a story that has become familiar in Alabama over the past several decades - steady growth in urban counties and steep decline in rural parts of the state.
Aside from Pickens County - where a prison skewed the numbers - the three fastest-growing counties in the state from 2013 to 2014 were Baldwin (2.4 percent), Limestone (2.1 percent) and Lee (1.7 percent).
Shelby, Madison and Tuscaloosa counties also were in the top 10.
Those six counties also ranked among the state's top 10 in growth since the 2010 census."
---AL.com, March 26, 2015
Culture War: A New Twist in the Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum Campaign
March 27, 2015 (Friday)
Above: Twitter photo of Jim Zeigler who became Alabama State Auditor in January 2015; AL.com undated photo of a Baldwin County Public Schools sign
AL.com: Alabama State Auditor Asks for an Investigation of the Baldwin County School System, March 27, 2015
"Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler on Friday asked the Attorney General's Office to launch a criminal investigation into the Baldwin County school system's use of taxpayer funds to promote next week's property tax referendum.
The school system has spent tens of thousands of dollars on consultants, campaign materials and other expenses related to persuading people to renew property taxes totaling 7 mills and approve new levies equaling 8 mills. The last figure provided by the school system is $156,989.
In a letter to Attorney General Luther Strange, Zeigler indicated that he was acting on behalf of four Baldwin County residents in requesting that prosecutors convene a grand jury to investigate the use of taxpayer funds. If Strange agrees, it could result misdemeanor charges punishable by a maximum of a year in jail upon conviction."
---AL.com, March 28, 2015
Fox10TV.com: Right-wing Alabama State Auditor Asks for Investigation of Baldwin County School System
"State Auditor Jim Zeigler requested Friday an investigation into the Baldwin County Board of Education's use of taxpayer funds to promote an 8 mil property tax increase.
The school system has used $210,000 in the 'Build Baldwin Now' campaign.
Zeigler sent a letter to Attorney General Luther Strange Friday requesting a full criminal investigation. Zeigler said his office had received four complaints from Baldwin County citizens that the Board of Education is using taxpayer money to campaign.
The letter reads in part: 'My preliminary inquiry indicates that the allegations are true and are a clear violation of Code of Alabama Section 17-17-5(a). If true, the activities could constitute a Class A misdemeanor for each offense.'
The Baldwin County school system released a statement in response that states: 'The board has previously supplied the state auditor with relevant legal guidance from the Alabama Attorney General's office making it clear that the board is authorized to use public funds in a referendum election.'
The statement also says that the school system would gladly provide a full accounting of all election expenses if requested.
Baldwin County School officials say they are authorized to use public funds to promote the referendum based on a 2003 Attorney General's opinion."
----Fox10TV.com, March 28, 2015
Launch of Mission to the International Space Station, a Stay Scheduled to Last 342 Days
March 27, 2015 (Friday)
Above: AP photo of U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan prior to embarking to the International Space Station via a Russian Soyuz rocket and Soyuz orbiting vehicle, March 27, 2015; Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft akin to the vehicle that would carry the U.S. Astronaut and two Russian Cosmonauts to the International Space Station on March 27, 2015 (U.S. time)
Above: AP photos of Russian Soyuz FG Rocket lifting off Russian Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station, early hours, March 28, 2015, Kazakhstan time (March 27, 2015, U.S. Time)
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Orbital Module highlighted
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Descent Module highlighted
Above: Diagram of Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft with Instrumentation/Propulsion Module highlighted
Above: The International Space Station; Mission Patch for the Soyuz TMA 16M component of the voyage
Above: Exploded view diagram of the International Space Station (ISS), circa 2011 (Source: Wikipedia)
Above: AP photos of U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly; Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko; Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka
Reuters: Beginning of Mission for a Longterm Stay at the International Space Station, March 27, 2015
"A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, sending a U.S.-Russia crew to the International Space Station for a year-long flight, a NASA Television broadcast showed.
The capsule holding NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, 51, and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, 54, and Gennady Padalka, 56, slipped into a docking port on the station’s Poisk module at 9:33 p.m. EDT/0133 GMT. The trio blasted off about six hours earlier. Kelly and Kornienko are slated to make the first year-long stay on the orbital outpost, double the current mission durations. Padalka, who is making his fifth flight, will return to Earth in September after racking up 878 days in space, setting a new record for the total amount of time anyone has spent in space."
---Reuters, March 28, 2015
Associated Press: Beginning of Mission to ISS Scheduled to Last Over 300 Days
"Two Russians and an American floated into the International Space Station on Saturday, beginning what is to be a year away from Earth for two of them.
Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly are to spend 342 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, about twice as long as a standard mission on the station. Russia's Gennady Padalka is beginning a six-month stay.
The three astronauts entered the station about eight hours after launching from Russia's manned space facility in Kazakhstan. They were embraced by American Terry Virts and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov who along with Italian Samantha Cristoforetti have been aboard since late November.
The trip is NASA's first attempt at a one-year spaceflight; four Russians have spent a year or more in space, all on the Soviet-built Mir space station.
The stay is aimed at measuring the effects of a prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body, a step toward possible missions to Mars or beyond.
Kelly's identical twin Mark, a retired astronaut, agreed to take part in many of the same medical experiments as his orbiting sibling to help scientists see how a body in space compares with its genetic double on Earth. They are 51.
Kelly and Kornienko, 54, will remain on board until next March. During that time, they will undergo extensive medical experiments, and prepare the station for the anticipated 2017 arrival of new U.S. commercial crew capsules. That means a series of spacewalks for Kelly, which will be his first.
The two men also will oversee the comings and goings of numerous cargo ships, as well as other Russian-launched space crews and an expected September visit from singer Sarah Brightman on a 'space tourist' trip.
Doctors are eager to learn what happens to Kelly and Kornienko once they surpass the usual six-month stay for space station residents."
---Associated Press, March 28, 2015
Chaos in Yemen
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: AP photos of Shi'ite Houthi Rebels at the Sanaa International Airport in Yemen, Saturday, March 28, 2015
Above: AP photo of Saudi Arabia's King Salman speaking with Egypt's President, Saturday, March 28, 2015; Map of the Middle East with the nation of Yemen emphasized in bold type
Reuters: Chaos in Yemen, March 28, 2015
"Saudi Arabia's navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from Yemen and the United Nations pulled out international staff on Saturday after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes trying to stem advances by Iranian-allied Houthi fighters.
Residents reported heavy clashes between the Houthis and mainly Sunni tribal fighters in the south of the country, while the Saudi-led air campaign sought to stall a fresh offensive by the Shi'ite Muslim group on Aden from the east.
Riyadh's intervention, a surprise move from a conservative monarchy better known for flexing its muscle in oil markets than through military might, is planned to last a month but could extend for five or six, a Gulf diplomatic source said."
---Reuters, March 28, 2015
Elite Eight: Wisconsin Knocks Off Arizona to Advance to the Final Four
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: Getty Images photo of Wisconsin vs. Arizona action in the Elite Eight round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 28, 2015
ESPN: Wisconsin Beats Arizona to Advance to the Final Four
"Just call him Sam Dagger.
Sam Dekker hit five of Wisconsin's 10 3-pointers in the second half on his way to a second straight career high of 27 points, Frank Kaminsky added 29 points and the top-seeded Badgers beat No. 2 Arizona 85-78 on Saturday to reach consecutive Final Fours for the first time in school history."
---ESPN, March 28, 2015
Elite Eight: Kentucky Edges Notre Dame to Remain Perfect (38-0) and Advance to the Final Four
March 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Above: Getty Images photo of Kentucky vs. Notre Dame action in the Elite Eight round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, March 28, 2015
ESPN: Kentucky Edges Notre Dame and Heads to the Final Four
"Pushed to the brink, Kentucky's still perfect and still playing.
Andrew Harrison made two free throws with six seconds remaining, and the top-seeded Wildcats kept their unbeaten season and national title hopes intact with a 68-66 win over Notre Dame on Saturday night in the Midwest Regional final."
---ESPN, March 28, 2015
Arab Coalition Formed Against Shi'ite Rebels in Yemen
March 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Above:
Associated Press: Arab Coalition Formed Against Shi'ite Rebels in Yemen
"A two-day Arab summit ended Sunday with a vow to defeat Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen and the formal unveiling of plans to form a joint Arab intervention force, setting the stage for a potentially dangerous clash between U.S.-allied Arab states and Tehran over influence in the region.
Arab leaders taking turns to address the gathering spoke repeatedly of the threat posed to the region's Arab identity by what they called moves by 'foreign' or 'outside parties' to stoke sectarian, ethnic or religious rivalries in Arab states — all thinly-veiled references to Iran, which has in recent years consolidated its hold in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and now Yemen.
The summit's final communique made similarly vague references, but the Arab League chief, Nabil Elaraby, was unequivocal during a news conference later, singling out Iran for what he said was its intervention 'in many nations.'
A summit resolution said the newly unveiled joint Arab defense force would be deployed at the request of any Arab nation facing a national security threat and that it would also be used to combat terrorist groups.
The agreement came as U.S. and other Western diplomats were pushing to meet a Tuesday deadline to reach a deal with Iran that would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions."
---Associated Press, March 29, 2015
Elite Eight: Michigan State Defeats Louisville in Overtime to Advance to the Final Four
March 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photo of Elite Eight action between Michigan State and Louisville, Sunday, March 29, 2015; AP photo of Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo talking to a Michigan State player during an Elite Eight game versus Louisville, Sunday, March 29, 2015
ESPN: Michigan State Knocks Off Louisville in OT to Advance to the Final Four, March 29, 2015
"Coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans capped an improbable run to the Final Four with an overtime win.
Senior guard Travis Trice scored 17 points and the seventh-seeded Spartans clamped down on defense to pull out a 76-70 victory over fourth-seeded Louisville in a thrilling NCAA tournament East Regional final Sunday.
The Spartans (27-11), who were nearly counted out of the tournament conversation in February, won for the 12th time in 15 games. It's a run that included them knocking off second-seeded Virginia last weekend and third-seeded Oklahoma in the regional semifinal Friday."
---ESPN, March 29, 2015
Elite Eight: Duke Defeats Gonzaga to Advance to the Final Four
March 29, 2015 (Sunday)
Above: AP photo of Duke battling Gonzaga in an Elite Eight game, Sunday, March 29, 2015
ESPN: Duke Knocks Off Gonzaga to Advance to the Final Four, March 29, 2015
"Mike Krzyzewski is living in the moment with his youngest team ever, not thinking too much about the significance of his latest trip to the NCAA Final Four.
With their trio of freshmen starting, the Duke Blue Devils are going to their 16th Final Four, and a record-tying 12th for Krzyzewski, after a 66-52 win over Gonzaga on Sunday to win the South Regional."
---ESPN, March 29, 2015
Controversy Swirls Regarding the 2015 Baldwin County, Alabama Property Tax Referendum Campaign
March 30, 2015 (Monday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com photo of Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler holding a news conference in Loxley, Alabama, Monday, March 30, 2015
Local15TV.com: Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler Further Injects Himself into the Baldwin County Tax Referendum Campaign
Fox10TV.com: Alabama's Attorney General Says the Baldwin County School System's Campaign Expenditures are Legal
AL.com: Controversy Continues in the Baldwin County Property Tax Referendum, March 30, 2015
"The Alabama Attorney General's Office on Monday reaffirmed a decade-old opinion issued by the office blessing the use of public funds to promote school tax referendums."
---AL.com, March 30, 2015
AL.com: Complaints Against the Baldwin County School System's Property Tax Referendum Campaign, March 30, 2015
"One by one, Baldwin County parents on Monday accused the school system of using intimidation to try to win a campaign for higher taxes.
Appearing at a news conference called by state Auditor Jim Zeigler, four parents said they believe the school system has exceeded its legal and moral authority. Baldwin voters have the final say Tuesday. The school system is asking for the renewal of 7 mills of property tax and new levies totally 8 mills. The money would finance a $350 million construction program to relieve overcrowded schools.
The parents speaking at the news conference supplemented Zeigler's call for an investigation by the Alabama Attorney General's Office into the use of public funds to support a 'yes' vote. The Attorney General's Office on Monday reiterated its opinion that the activity is legal."
---AL.com, March 30, 2015
March 31, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Wikipedia map of Iraq
Associated Press: Iraqi Forces Have Entered the Center of Tikrit
"Iraqi forces battled Islamic State militants holed up in downtown Tikrit, going house to house Tuesday in search of snipers and booby traps, and the prime minister said security forces had reached the heart of the city.
In a statement on Twitter, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the 'liberation of Tikrit' and congratulated Iraqi security forces on their 'historic milestone.' But an official statement from his office said the troops 'hoisted the Iraqi flag' over the Salahuddin provincial headquarters in Tikrit and are moving to control the entire city.
Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the commander of the Salahuddin operation, said his forces fighting from the west were still 300 meters (325 yards) from the center of Tikrit.
Extremists from the Islamic State group seized Saddam Hussein's hometown last summer during its lightning advance across northern and western Iraq. The battle for Tikrit is seen as a key step toward eventually driving the militants out of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city that is farther north.
Street-by-street fighting raged into the afternoon, and estimates differed widely on how much of this strategic city on the banks of the Tigris River that Iraqi forces held. Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati said at least 75 percent of Tikrit had been recaptured. Ammar Hikmat, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said more than 40 percent was under Iraqi control."
---Associated Press, March 31, 2015
Baldwin County Property Tax Referendum: The Voters Definitively Reject an Increase in Property Taxes
March 31, 2015 (Tuesday)
Above: Map of Alabama with Baldwin County highlighted in red; AL.com undated photo of a Baldwin County Public Schools sign
AL.com: Baldwin County Voters Overwhelmingly Vote Against Property Tax Increases, March 31, 2015
AL.com: Precinct Results in the "Build Baldwin Now" Tax Referendum Defeat
"Forget replacing portable classrooms. Baldwin County school system officials come away from Tuesday's tax referendum in far worse shape than they were when the day began.
The school system had hoped to raise more than $28 million a year in new tax revenue to pay for a $350 million school construction program. Instead, voters resoundingly shot down a pair of ballot initiatives for new taxes, shot down an existing 1-mill tax and narrowly defeated a bid to renew a 3-mill property tax. That could cost the school system $14 million.
The defeat was deep and broad. Only one precinct, Spanish Fort Volunteer Fire Department, supported new taxes. That precinct narrowly supported a 3-mill increase (with 50.5 percent voting 'yes') and a 5-mill increase (with 50.7 percent voting in the affirmative).
The precincts were divided on three separate renewals. A large majority of the polling places opposed the renewals, but one of three managed to eke out small 'yes' vote on the strength of the most populous precincts."
---AL.com, April 1, 2015
AL.com: Baldwin County Voters Deliver Definitive Defeat to the "Build Baldwin Now" Property Tax Campaign, March 31, 2015
"Baldwin County school officials are determined to stay positive in the wake of a resounding defeat Tuesday night after voters denied the school system new property taxes, and failed to renew some of those already dedicated to it.
The ballot contained a total of 7 mills of renewable taxes and 8 mills of new, representing as much as a $1 billion infusion into the school system over the next 30 years.
Citizens currently pay a 12-mill ad valorem tax, which would have gone to 20 had all five parts of the vote passed across the board. And now, the 12 will be reduced by at least 1, as a 1-mill renewal failed to pass with the required 60 percent majority.
One of the two renewable 3-mill taxes was too close to call at deadline.
If the overall vote had passed, planned construction over the next three years would have included new elementary schools in Bay Minette and Daphne, a new high school in Gulf Shores and numerous additions to schools throughout the county's seven feeder patterns, as well as the new one proposed in the Elberta area."
---AL.com, March 31, 2015
WKRG: Two New Proposed Property Taxes and Two Tax Renewals Go Down to Defeat in Baldwin County
"The dust has settled and the outlook is grim for the Baldwin County School District one day after a historic vote that rejected a monumental tax increase to build new schools.
Tuesday night, voters headed to the polls and sent a resounding message to district leaders.
'No new taxes... in fact, we don't want the old ones either.'
In a shocking turn for the school district, voters emphatically rejected the two new tax increases on the ballot, even going as far to reject two of the three old tax renewals.
The last renewal, a three-mill county-wide school tax, is hanging in the balance. The vote was too close to call on Tuesday night, as it was separated by just 195 votes."
---WKRG.com, April 1, 2015
AL.com: Emerging Criticism of the Strategies Used in the "Build Baldwin Now" Campaign
April 2015